Finish Lines

Yesterday, I finished the first draft of my fourth kid's novel, The Boomer Sisters And The Pirates. Whoo-hoo!

As with all my books, I really enjoyed writing it, but I must say, it feels SO GOOD to be done. Now all I have to do is type it up, edit it, polish it, pass it along to my wonderful illustrator Mandy, incorporate the illustrations (once they're done - no rush, Mandy), and  hopefully have it all put together in time to get a nice-looking, professional copy ready to put under the tree for Christmas. Even the super-fast self-publishing route takes some time, as  you can see.

The other finish line up ahead is the Air Force half marathon. The race is on Sept 20th, and as with the writing, I've really (mostly) enjoyed the training, I'm super glad I'm doing it, and it will feel SO GOOD  to be done.

I've been a runner pretty consistently since I was 15, but I think I'm going to take a break after the half marathon is over. My legs and knees are surprisingly fine, but my brain is a little bit burned out on running. Well, maybe not all running, but certainly the uncivilized distances I've been doing lately. Perhaps I'll pick up racquetball again. That would be nice.

Yes, it's the journey that matters, but finish lines are beautiful things, aren't they?

My I*N*T*E*N*S*E Mornings

I noticed a curious pattern the other day. Most of the products I interact with each morning seem to be some combination of Ultra, Max, Mega, Super or Xtreme (there's even one labeled "Mega X-treme" - yikes!)

It made me wonder... do I perhaps naturally gravitate towards this kind of intensity, or did I buy these products because I had a coupon? Do coupons tend to go along with Maxed-out MegaUltraGoodness? Clearly, more research is called for.

Naturally, I immediately whipped out my handy-dandy, oh-so-fuzzy camera phone and snapped up the evidence to share with all my faithful readers (Hi mom!). 

I wonder - does your day start out with this much intensity? And how much Power does that PowerStripe(tm) really contain?

Well, at least something around here is "regular."

Google Chrome

So I just downloaded the new web browser from Google. It's called Chrome, and I think I dig it. I'm still feeling my way around, but so far, so good. It's one of the most elegant (and least intrusive) applications I've ever used... as I would expect from Google. I love that I could easily import my bookmarks and passwords from Firefox.

But the coolest thing is this 38 page comic introducing Chrome, by none other than Scott McCloud, the genius behind Understanding Comics (LOVE that book!). It's probably longer than it needs to be, but it's engaging, informative, and a brilliant way to not only introduce the new browser, but also to introduce the team and the design philosophy behind it. It's a master class in software design principles, in a mere 38 pages. I highly recommend it.

I'm not ready to abandon Firefox and endorse Chrome just yet - gotta kick the tires and see what this puppy can do. But I can tell you the very first thing I did after downloading and installing Chrome was write this blog post.

New Oil

Sen Obama pointed the other day that drilling for oil in new places is neither a short-term solution nor a long-term solution. I think that's a pretty good point and I wonder how I hadn't thought of it in those terms before.

I'm not saying which candidate I prefer. I'm just saying that drilling for oil in new places takes a while. New sites take time to develop - sometimes, a lot of time. And the long-term answer to our energy needs clearly has nothing to do with petroleum. So, can anyone tell me why we should drill for new oil anywhere? Maybe it's a mid-term solution, that will benefit us for a little while 5+ years from now?

Personally, I'd rather see that money, time and intellectual capital invested in a more permanent, more eco-friendly solution.

Muffin Films

It's been a while since I've watched these little muffin movies, but I checked them out again and they're just as funny as ever. If you've never seen them, click on over. They're a real treat!

Today's Score

Heat, Humidity & Hills: Zero
Dan: 2

After last week's crushing defeat on the Hills of Hell, I bounced back this morning and kicked some hot, hilly, humid hiney!

That's right, sports fans, despite today's heat & humidity, I made it through my hilly 2.5 mile loop twice this morning, without stopping to walk and without crying at all, not even a little bit. And my pace was right on track too - now that's more like it.

So, I think I'm going to be ready for the big 13 miler on Sept 20th. Not much longer now!

Latest Article Online Now!

YES!

I love it when the new issue of Defense AT&L is posted online, 'cause that means I've got a new article available to plug... and this one's a doozie! Wake the kids! Call the neighbors! Send this link to everyone in your email address book! (Ok, don't actually do that last one).

Anyway, after my foray into postmodernism and my experiment with oddball Socratic fiction, this one is a return to form. It's titled "The Truth About Process Loss Costs," and I suspect it's going to toast some knickers.

See, the whole concept of becoming a "process enterprise" is popular in the DoD these days ('cause industry largely walked away from the practice in the late 90's, so it's about time we pick it up). In this article, I have a few uncomfortable questions to ask of the Hammerheads and other Process Advocates... answers they studiously refuse to answer.

I can't wait to see what sort of "fan mail" this one generates. I hope it will get people to really evaluate this whole "process enterprise" thing.

And as a Special Bonus, check out the latest 13 Theta cartoon. Guaranteed to make you laugh, or your money back!

Dan's Garden: RIP

Bad news - my garden died.

Yeah, pretty much the whole thing kicked the bucket. It never really recovered from my absence during a trip or two to NY. Plus, we had 3 weeks without rain, which certainly didn't help. And, it turns out I'm not a very attentive gardener, which is probably the main problem. I'd water it periodically - say, every other day or so - but probably not long enough or often enough. Sigh.

There are a few sad looking little cucumbers trying to hang in there, and a couple beans. But the zucchini and squash plants just seem to have given up.

The carrots are sorta hanging in there, as far as you can tell with carrots. I'll have to go out and see what I can harvest of them. And we did have several good meals with the beans, carrots, cucumbers and a couple zucchinis earlier in the season. But it looks like overall, we'll have to chalk this little experiment up as a learning experience. Better luck next time, eh?

The Flip Flop Lock: Only $19.95!

I was walking down the stairwell at school the other day and saw that someone had locked up a pair of flip-flops with a bike lock. I just about burst out laughing and had to take a photo (using my handy-dandy, ever-present and oh-so-fuzzy & dark camera phone).