Read this tonight, I think the author is right on many levels and funnier than most people realize.
"The more I read about it, the more it seems that Watson's (or its programmers') Jeopardy accomplishment was more breakthrough than parlor trick. Let's put it to practical use on our toughest problems like figuring out how to reduce the deficit without touching entitlements, why we keep getting so many credit card offers in the mail when we never respond to them, or how to keep Lindsay Lohan out of trouble."
Let's get this thing off the talk shows and do something with it. Besides, I got the Lohan thing figured out; put me in charge of her money.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
I know you're reading this, so I wrote one just for you.
Dear Potential Employer,
Thank You for taking some time to do a little investigative reporting on me, your new potential employee. As you have my resume and Cover Letter, as well as access to my online professional profile at Linkedin.com, I thought I would take a moment and tell you a little bit more about myself. Since you are currently looking at my facebook, twitter and blogger accounts, I figured you are trying to learn something more about me that was not on the resume. So I have decided to help you out. I have decided to answer the interview questions that you should ask me when we interview. Hopefully, you'll know a thing or two when we are done here --so thank you for your time.
Yes, I grew up in the Chicagoland area. Here I feel I got the best of everything, as I feel this area is the land of moderation. I got both ends of the spectrum in politics, economics, business and entertainment (Don't ask for examples of entertainment -- I just threw it in there because four examples sounded better than three). I feel like I got a little bit of everything, and that is important to me. I returned here because I want my children to have the same experience.
I have many experiences from my personal and professional history that have shaped the way I operate today. Of course I have specifics for you, feel free to pick a category. I turned salesmanship into an art by the time I was 16, I can sell anything. Sales is fun but wears on you fast; something that I noticed early in life, so its not my favorite thing in the world. I love music and have an incredible ear for it, I'm a little freakish when it comes to music. Future dream job: scoring movies. I also love to write, a lot. Why do you think I am taking the time to have an interview with you, online, by myself.
My greatest attribute: This is an interesting question, and often difficult to answer because I never know exactly what you are looking for when you ask it. I think my greatest attribute is that I genuinely believe in the goodness of people. It is a gift because I am always striving to bring out the best in a situation. I also work tirelessly to solve problems because I want to make others happy.
My weakest attribute: I am easily spooked. I am incredibly afraid of failure and the resulting consequences. At times, this can be good because I will work on a problem until I am successful; something I am sure you will enjoy at your firm. However, if it is something I haven't already started, I will most likely avoid in order to save face. This is the reason I didn't play high school basketball, football, try to get into an Ivy League school, or learn to play the piano or attempt to sing professionally. Long story short, sometimes I am a pansy.
The thing that I will bring to your company is an un-matched level of passion. I run 100mph at whatever problem you point me towards. A fair warning, sometimes I will leave Mitch-shaped holes in the wall, because I will screw up. But I work hard and if you show interest in my life an who I want to become, I will be your most loyal associate; like a border collie with a degree.
Finally, I love to work. Ask my family and friends, they will affirm that I am ridiculously devoted to whatever I am working on; most of them will report with a certain amount of disdain-but it will be the truth. I love it, and I am ready to start immediately.
Anyway, thank you for your time "investigating" me, your newest employee. I hope it was worth the read. In the meantime, feel free to browse my facebook pictures and friends and that will give us something to fill time with in the actual interview. Thanks again, talk to you soon.
Mitch
Thank You for taking some time to do a little investigative reporting on me, your new potential employee. As you have my resume and Cover Letter, as well as access to my online professional profile at Linkedin.com, I thought I would take a moment and tell you a little bit more about myself. Since you are currently looking at my facebook, twitter and blogger accounts, I figured you are trying to learn something more about me that was not on the resume. So I have decided to help you out. I have decided to answer the interview questions that you should ask me when we interview. Hopefully, you'll know a thing or two when we are done here --so thank you for your time.
Yes, I grew up in the Chicagoland area. Here I feel I got the best of everything, as I feel this area is the land of moderation. I got both ends of the spectrum in politics, economics, business and entertainment (Don't ask for examples of entertainment -- I just threw it in there because four examples sounded better than three). I feel like I got a little bit of everything, and that is important to me. I returned here because I want my children to have the same experience.
I have many experiences from my personal and professional history that have shaped the way I operate today. Of course I have specifics for you, feel free to pick a category. I turned salesmanship into an art by the time I was 16, I can sell anything. Sales is fun but wears on you fast; something that I noticed early in life, so its not my favorite thing in the world. I love music and have an incredible ear for it, I'm a little freakish when it comes to music. Future dream job: scoring movies. I also love to write, a lot. Why do you think I am taking the time to have an interview with you, online, by myself.
My greatest attribute: This is an interesting question, and often difficult to answer because I never know exactly what you are looking for when you ask it. I think my greatest attribute is that I genuinely believe in the goodness of people. It is a gift because I am always striving to bring out the best in a situation. I also work tirelessly to solve problems because I want to make others happy.
My weakest attribute: I am easily spooked. I am incredibly afraid of failure and the resulting consequences. At times, this can be good because I will work on a problem until I am successful; something I am sure you will enjoy at your firm. However, if it is something I haven't already started, I will most likely avoid in order to save face. This is the reason I didn't play high school basketball, football, try to get into an Ivy League school, or learn to play the piano or attempt to sing professionally. Long story short, sometimes I am a pansy.
The thing that I will bring to your company is an un-matched level of passion. I run 100mph at whatever problem you point me towards. A fair warning, sometimes I will leave Mitch-shaped holes in the wall, because I will screw up. But I work hard and if you show interest in my life an who I want to become, I will be your most loyal associate; like a border collie with a degree.
Finally, I love to work. Ask my family and friends, they will affirm that I am ridiculously devoted to whatever I am working on; most of them will report with a certain amount of disdain-but it will be the truth. I love it, and I am ready to start immediately.
Anyway, thank you for your time "investigating" me, your newest employee. I hope it was worth the read. In the meantime, feel free to browse my facebook pictures and friends and that will give us something to fill time with in the actual interview. Thanks again, talk to you soon.
Mitch
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Big Brother
The amount of information available bewilders me...It blows my mind that I can look and see where in the world people are reading this, how they got here, and that they are reading it on their iPhone...
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Taking the day
2010 was not my favorite year; and I have already taken into account that ranking years is a little Obsessive Compulsive, even for me. I do have some good years, I liked '95 (49ers last Superbowl Win) '03 (Senior Year of Highschool. Awesome.) '08 (Senior year of college, not a moment too soon!), and in all honesty life in general has been pretty good. But 2010 was a particular brand I just didn't enjoy.
2010, however, is coming to a close. And while part of me breathes a sigh of relief, I am still wishing I could take another crack at the year and see if we can pull something out of it that could turn everything around. I wish and had made a few different business/career moves that would have allowed me to side-step the economic demise of an entire industry that catapulted me into managing a Footlocker instead of carving out a little slice of the world. I wish I would have re-arranged my schedule in 2010 so I could have enjoyed more time with family both near and far. I wish I would have taken more strokes off my game and spent at least one round on a course with my uncle Steve. More than anything, 2010 felt panicked, rushed and stressful; Three attributes to life I can very easily live without.
The past two days, however, have been anything but. Life just slowed down for a bit. Yesterday alone was a gift that allowed me to just sit and watch time pass by with no care or worries about where it was passing to. I watched my daughter play with her new pet; a little dog that barks at her...and then she barks back, I played games with my wife, and just enjoyed life for the day.
Tomorrow we get back to it, but I am determined to take the peace of Christmas with me in the days to come. Not so much the warm thoughts and being nice to other people (not that those are bad things; but I am a realist here - those won't last)but the peace I found with my family that day; the joys of the simple things in life that are so easily missed when time is moving just a little too fast. 2010 wasn't all that great because I forgot to dwell on those little moments that make life great. And I am going to make sure that 2011 is awesome.
-Little moment of the day: My daughter just got annoyed with my wife because she was giving her kisses and blocking the line of sight to the laptop. Great, she's got her mother's attitude!
2010, however, is coming to a close. And while part of me breathes a sigh of relief, I am still wishing I could take another crack at the year and see if we can pull something out of it that could turn everything around. I wish and had made a few different business/career moves that would have allowed me to side-step the economic demise of an entire industry that catapulted me into managing a Footlocker instead of carving out a little slice of the world. I wish I would have re-arranged my schedule in 2010 so I could have enjoyed more time with family both near and far. I wish I would have taken more strokes off my game and spent at least one round on a course with my uncle Steve. More than anything, 2010 felt panicked, rushed and stressful; Three attributes to life I can very easily live without.
The past two days, however, have been anything but. Life just slowed down for a bit. Yesterday alone was a gift that allowed me to just sit and watch time pass by with no care or worries about where it was passing to. I watched my daughter play with her new pet; a little dog that barks at her...and then she barks back, I played games with my wife, and just enjoyed life for the day.
Tomorrow we get back to it, but I am determined to take the peace of Christmas with me in the days to come. Not so much the warm thoughts and being nice to other people (not that those are bad things; but I am a realist here - those won't last)but the peace I found with my family that day; the joys of the simple things in life that are so easily missed when time is moving just a little too fast. 2010 wasn't all that great because I forgot to dwell on those little moments that make life great. And I am going to make sure that 2011 is awesome.
-Little moment of the day: My daughter just got annoyed with my wife because she was giving her kisses and blocking the line of sight to the laptop. Great, she's got her mother's attitude!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The man we all knew.
My Uncle Steve passed away this past Monday night after a difficult struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He is survived by his wife and four children and three grand-children.
The Russon family has been very fortunate to not have to deal with death's in the family very often. In fact, Steve is the closest person to me that has passed away since we put my dog down in high school; so I wasn't really sure how any of us would react when this time came. As I have reflected on his life, I feel like I did not know the man as well as I ought. I saw him at family events and we often shared stories and laughs. Steve and I talked about golf and about travel, the two things we had in common. However, I felt like there was so much I didn't know about him. I did not know about his views on life. I didn't know his politics. I didn't know his take on current events or life's situations. I knew how he ate pie.
However, using what I did know and the times we did share, I realized I knew much about the man, and he knew me.
I never saw Steve in any setting without his family. I never saw him not surrounded by people who loved him. I never saw his demeanor as anything but happy; I think it was his default position. Never once, not once, did I hear a negative word come out of his mouth while in my presence. I knew he loved to be active. I knew he loved to help other people. In the last weeks of his life he was still trying to set me up with a job within a local company; he refused to let me change the subject to him. It seems as though the man willed himself to live until after the wedding of his youngest daughter, lasting merely hours after the ceremony.
Perhaps this is all rose colored because of the circumstances. But I am ashamed to think that it took the circumstances for me to see any color at all. My memories of Steve all point towards the same character; a man who I am in awe of. He never lived for himself, even when he knew he was going to die.
I knew the man. I did not know his politics or financial dealings. I did not know his reactions and thoughts to daily occurrences. But I knew him. I knew the life he lived and the legacy he left. I know the children he raised and the family he built. They live on, standing beside those who love them, as a tribute and a testimony to the man we knew, Steven Merlin Russon.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body as both the upper and lower motor neurons degenerate, ceasing to send messages to muscles. Unable to function, the muscles gradually weaken, develop fasciculations (twitches) because of denervation, and eventually atrophy because of that denervation. Affected individuals may ultimately lose the ability to initiate and control all voluntary movement. For more information on ALS, click here.
The Russon family has been very fortunate to not have to deal with death's in the family very often. In fact, Steve is the closest person to me that has passed away since we put my dog down in high school; so I wasn't really sure how any of us would react when this time came. As I have reflected on his life, I feel like I did not know the man as well as I ought. I saw him at family events and we often shared stories and laughs. Steve and I talked about golf and about travel, the two things we had in common. However, I felt like there was so much I didn't know about him. I did not know about his views on life. I didn't know his politics. I didn't know his take on current events or life's situations. I knew how he ate pie.
However, using what I did know and the times we did share, I realized I knew much about the man, and he knew me.
I never saw Steve in any setting without his family. I never saw him not surrounded by people who loved him. I never saw his demeanor as anything but happy; I think it was his default position. Never once, not once, did I hear a negative word come out of his mouth while in my presence. I knew he loved to be active. I knew he loved to help other people. In the last weeks of his life he was still trying to set me up with a job within a local company; he refused to let me change the subject to him. It seems as though the man willed himself to live until after the wedding of his youngest daughter, lasting merely hours after the ceremony.
Perhaps this is all rose colored because of the circumstances. But I am ashamed to think that it took the circumstances for me to see any color at all. My memories of Steve all point towards the same character; a man who I am in awe of. He never lived for himself, even when he knew he was going to die.
I knew the man. I did not know his politics or financial dealings. I did not know his reactions and thoughts to daily occurrences. But I knew him. I knew the life he lived and the legacy he left. I know the children he raised and the family he built. They live on, standing beside those who love them, as a tribute and a testimony to the man we knew, Steven Merlin Russon.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. The disorder causes muscle weakness and atrophy throughout the body as both the upper and lower motor neurons degenerate, ceasing to send messages to muscles. Unable to function, the muscles gradually weaken, develop fasciculations (twitches) because of denervation, and eventually atrophy because of that denervation. Affected individuals may ultimately lose the ability to initiate and control all voluntary movement. For more information on ALS, click here.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
L&D
Well for the moment, time has seemed to slow down. It is a very interesting experience in life that I was not really prepared for. Life was moving faster than ever before, with more and more stress piling on.
Then out of absolutely nowhere, my little girl was born.
Okay not out of nowhere, but describing where she came from would not be poetic, it was gross! But all of a sudden I find myself sitting in a hospital room with absolutely no sense of time or place - just a little girl who likes to look back into my eyes when I hold her.
Her name is Tessa. She is perfect. She is also pretty darn cute - and I am fairly crtain she's gifted. I mean, I'm not sure; at the moment I'm the guy who can't tell time, but yeah-she's gifted. Tessa was born at 8:35pm on September 14. She weighed in at 6lbs and 6oz and measured at 17 3/4 inches. We are certain that she has inherited her mother's distaste for hospitals and her father's ability to loudly voice her opinion.
And she's gifted.
Then out of absolutely nowhere, my little girl was born.
Okay not out of nowhere, but describing where she came from would not be poetic, it was gross! But all of a sudden I find myself sitting in a hospital room with absolutely no sense of time or place - just a little girl who likes to look back into my eyes when I hold her.
Her name is Tessa. She is perfect. She is also pretty darn cute - and I am fairly crtain she's gifted. I mean, I'm not sure; at the moment I'm the guy who can't tell time, but yeah-she's gifted. Tessa was born at 8:35pm on September 14. She weighed in at 6lbs and 6oz and measured at 17 3/4 inches. We are certain that she has inherited her mother's distaste for hospitals and her father's ability to loudly voice her opinion.
And she's gifted.
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