Rothacker Reviews

Along the Yellow Brick Road

Work has really gotten the best of me over the last eight months. 

"Awww, come on dave, that's one of the wimpiest sentences you've ever written."

Work penetrated the insides of my head with an icy-cold wake up dagger, "dave, no more cruise control.  If you want to work here..."  And with one big ole commitment I fast-tracked on a laser train right out of my personal life.  No worries.  It's what I needed.  Rosemary has been cool and Carla is a teenager.

A phenomenal effort by my team at work has secured my employment with this company for a little while longer.  While I cannot let up, I need to slow the train down and get back to that comforter that wraps itself around my soul and heart, the one that on a storm-filled day warms my mind, the one that a hurricane cannot pry loose, and the one that is one with dave's dna - dave's writing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John Maxwell says, "No dream grows out of a vacuum.  It grows out of a dream.  Whether you know it or not, your life has been preparing you for your dreams."

Those who know me know that I am a fifty-one year old bald guy who has had no idea what I want to be when I grow up.  My heart, soul and mind have been ripped from my body and beaten against the rocks of not knowing. The pain of not knowing, of thinking that my answers were out ahead on the road before me have been excruciating, mind numbing and paralyzing.  The pain has sucked oxygen from my life, leaving me most often doubled over in pain.

But for the last five or six years, I've known the answer to my question is and really always has been inside...just like John says.  Something is beginning to stir within dave's soul...  I feel like the sun is trying to penetrate the clouds that accompany my journey.  Something is happening...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While my writing has taken it in the back over the last eight months, my reading hasn't.  And lately I seem to be not only smoking books, but vaporizing them. Picture the robot from the movie Short Circuit...need input, need input.

One of the greatest feelings that I have ever experienced as a human being was a bought of heart-felt appreciation for a book review that I wrote for this one gentleman.  As he told me from six-hundred miles away via telephone what this book review did for him and his company, warms tears streamed down my face.  To know dave is to know that this moment is an anomaly.  This was about six years ago and I packed this experience up in my back pack that I carry on my life's journey.

Writing book reviews and telling folks what excites me about others and their work is a portion of my comforter's dna.  John says they've always been there.  dave says he knows.  Johns says to tune in.  dave says they've walked every foot of the Yellow Brick Road with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because my back log of books to write about is so long, I am going to start writing a very short synopsis about each one.  Afterwords I'll follow up with additional posts elaborating.

The mix of first and third person in this post is by design.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it oh great magazine editor!!

Good Vibrations

At some point over the last few years I lost the desire to camp out at the local post office in sweet anticipation of my next Fast Company magazine.  I cannot wax lyrical articulation as to why.  I can only say that maybe, just maybe, they lost a little bit of their soul.

A Westerly wind blew into my life a couple of years ago and gently nudged me into the prevailing trade winds of Design.  I've read many books on the subject and subscribe to at least four different design magazines.  An appreciation for design has allowed for a finer appreciation of culture and deeper tie-ins to the art of communication.  The ability to look through a different lens at one's favorite subjects is most exhilarating!

Sailing at sea with my four design magazines, I always seem to notice when other design magazines float by.  It was about a year ago when I picked up Good.  Aesthetically, it has off the chart design appeal.  I love it.  But it is Good's content that has me remembering Fast Company's good old days.  Creators say Good is for people who give a damn.  They say it's an entertaining magazine about things that matter.  I agree.  Troll through their Website a bit and you'll get a feel.

When one subscribes to Good, one-hundred percent of that payment goes to one of its twelve nonprofit partners.  My proceeds go to Room to Read. 

"Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books."

While visiting a remote mountainous area in Nepal, John Wood, founder of Room to Read, came upon a school in horrific condition.  It did however, have a library.  The problem - it contained fewer than twenty books. 

John did go back...with books.  Room to Read grew from the seeds of John's gestures.

We construct force fields to survive the daily onslaught of advertising overload.  (unless, like me, you crave the stuff. I'll explain this sickness in a future post).  Sometimes however, a message pierces your armor and lodges in your heart.  The second that I heard about John's mission was the second right before Room to Read's message landed in my heart.  There will most definitely be some sort of dave-involvement with this organization in the future!

Thanks for coming into my life Good!

Beyond

The concept of beyond is a personal value.  It is a personal principle, standard and mindset.  It does not represent the after-life.  It represents what is ahead on the road of life...if and only if, I am willing to strive for it.  Because if I am just walking down the road of life, like a hamster walks his wheel, I will miss what is beyond and I will only continue to see what I see.

Next to Oz is the Yellow Brick Road, Vaporize Boundaries is my own personal favorite mindset.  To make boundaries melt into the sunset is the physical act of beyond.  To break a four-minute mile, to break nine-five in the one-hundred meters, to walk after being wheelchair bound, to achieve an A in Algebra after cranking out eight years of C's in Math, to become sober, to repair relationships with family, to invent a new paint can...what has not yet been done - that is possible?

To envision what can be done is the mental act of beyond.  To find work that is enjoyable and meaningful, while still able to support one's family, to connect two individuals and smell the aroma of their collaborative effort, to forge written words from the colander of one's soul to help liberate another's burden or to improve their life or business, to connect to another's words, allowing them to lubricate the gears within your mind and hit a new level of thought...what can be imagined - that is possible?

What is beyond is different.  And what is different is a kernel of knowledge that we did not before possess.  A kernel of knowledge gained strengthens our journey and expands the boundaries to what lies beyond.

Design: Do You Love Your City?

Ben lived in a rather small city of 15,000 people.  He spoke of it as wonderfully designed.  He liked the large streets that made up a perfect grid.  Ben cared about where he lived.  So when the unpaved streets became muddy and wreaked havoc on the merchants, he worked to get the community involved and the streets paved.  But dried mud on the paved streets was also a problem.  So Ben created and distributed a pamphlet that stated the advantages of hiring a street sweeper.  A few days later when he canvassed the neighborhoods, Ben discovered unanimous support.

About this time the townspeople wanted to light their city.  Ben took note of John Clifton's house.  John simply kept a lit lamp outside of his front door at night.  Ben and John purchased a few lamps from overseas.  Ben noticed a flaw in the oil lamp's design.  There were no provisions to draw air from the bottom which would prevent a buildup of smoke and soot.  Ben redesigned the lamp to allow air to move freely through the lamp. 

Wisdom quickly became a byproduct of Ben's life.  He used the street paving and lamp stories to tell folks about happiness and attention to small matters.  He said that dust (or soot) blown into the eyes of a single person or merchant was not much of a problem.  But when dust was blown into the eyes of an entire city, it could shut down the city.  A simple plan to sweep the streets or a small design change to the lamps were examples of paying attention to seemingly small matters.  Ben said human happiness is not so much a result of lucky events that rarely come our way.  Rather, happiness is more often a result of the little advantages that accumulate every day.

He went on to say that if you want to make the world a better place, do something as basic as teaching a poor young man how to shave himself and keep his razor in good shape.  In doing this, you may contribute more to his happiness in life than by giving him a lump sum of money.  He said, money easily gained is often foolishly spent and latter regretted, but a good skill pays dividends for a lifetime.

A few small incidents from Ben's life here demonstrate a remarkable ability to market, to be creative, to design, to pursue happiness and to teach. 

Ben was a pretty smart guy and yes, Benjamin Franklin loved Philadelphia, his city.  Do you love yours?

This story of Benjamin Franklin can be found in Benjamin Franklin by Blaine McCormick.

Fly Your Freak Flag

The pain, the excruciating hot, poker-iron pain pierced Jimmy's side.  He was lost in the forest without food and water.  They had given him what seemed like simple instructions.  "Go to college, get a good job with benefits, keep your head down and don't make waves."  He entered the forest at one of the firebreak roads.  The sign said Cubicle Farms just ahead.  Looking back, he should have been concerned when the firebreak road disappeared in the forest's undergrowth - on the very first day.

Jimmy entered Cubicle Farms at Hamster Wheel Alley.  Fifteen years and four sets of carpet later, he was still trapped inside the forest.  The forest and its dwellers homogenized his life.  His initial issue of horse-blinders, latex gloves and rubber pencils stood the journey of time.  The forest dwellers applied a steady drip of corner and edge rounding to all of the citizens of Cubicle Farms. 

Comparing his plight one day to that of Viktor Frankl, Jimmy remembered some long-ago advice from his brother Denny.  "Be proud of who you really are.  Be proud to fly your Freak Flag!"  Later that day Jimmy ran from Cubicle Farms into the Forest.

In an insightful essay* on freeing our creativity titled "Fly Your Freak Flag", author Ellen Rohr explains the title's roots. 

"In the movie, "the Family Stone," Sarah Jessica Parker plays an uptight lawyer.  Luke Wilson plays her soon-to-be brother-in-law and lover.  Luke's character is trying to get Sarah's character to lighten up.  He tells her, "You have a freak flag.  You just don't fly it."

Can you think of anything more liberating than climbing up Pork Chop Hill, climbing up, over and on the backs of the Forest Dwellers if you have to, but reaching the summit and driving your freak flag into the peak and proudly proclaiming, "this is who I am!"  Personally, I am not so demonstrative.  But I wouldn't mind getting a suction cup for my freak flag and sticking that baby right on top of my company issued soccer-mom-mobile.

Purple haze all in my brain.  Lately things just don't seem the same.  Actin funny, but I don't know why.  Scuse me while I kiss the sky.

*Unfortunately there is no link to Ellen's essay.

Moleskine Notebooks

It was nearly three years ago that the Moleskine product raged through the online world.  We spoke and wrote about the historic black notebooks.  The buzz died and although I've used two notebooks regularly since then, my awareness seemed to wane as well.  That is, until I read this sentence which I removed out of a small informational piece that was packed with the last notebook that I purchased.

Moleskine is a reservoir of ideas and feelings, a battery that stores discoveries and perceptions, and whose energy can be tapped over time.

What powerful and inspiring words!

One could say the same thing about a 1.99 drugstore notebook.  (It used to be Dime Store).  But the hook is that the reservoir is attached to the deep and rich Moleskine history.  This association is Gorilla Glue bond and sinks a grappling hook into our right brain, anchored to our soul.

Okay, now we're at a crossroad.  Either:

• You now exactly what I'm talkin' bout
• You gave Moleskine a try but you see the practicality of the 1.99 drugstore notebook instead
• You haven't purchased a Moleskine

If you're at point one or three listen up.  Use the connection between your heart, soul, mind and Moleskine to develop a keen sense of awareness and observation.  If you step one foot out of your house, make sure you're packin' the Moleskine.  Now, watch this...

Make notes on what captures your attention

As you continue to do this, you'll see more, and often what do see will be below the surface of what appears to be.  So basically you've used an object that hooks the emotion from your body to connect with others, with the land or with objects.  How can not this practice enrich your writing and your life?

Check out what these folks do with Moleskines.

Young Adults: Our Future

We had a little episode at the Arby's in New Tampa a couple of evenings ago.  It caused me to think, the young adults of this lad's age, will one day be out in the mainstream workforce forging their livelihood.  Do we want them to carry forward emotional scars that involved us?

Do we not shape the future's of the young adults who we interact with?

Quick side step - Of course we shape our own children's lives.  Dr. Phil refers to this as writing upon the slate of who they are.  Chances are, if they are shown respect, they'll be respectful; if they are shown kindness, they'll be kind...etc.

I am talking here however, about those young people we meet in public.  Why don't we consider treating them like banks?  Each interaction that we have with them is a deposit into their future.  If we are mean to them, then meanness will eventually come out of them.  Imagine a future world with more love, more respect, more caring.  It's all about the bank. 

Double secret undercover probationary tip that will allow the world's bank account to fatten - Don't judge young adults.  So you're at the mall and you see four kids dressed in black, all sporting colorful hair and personal hardware.  Quick, what do you think?  Some folks think, punks, troublemakers.  I try hard not to think anything.  I see kids trying to express themselves, trying to find their way and trying to seek out others who feel like they do. 

Some of us old fuddy-duddies are thinking, "oh my gosh, what is our world coming to?  what happens when these kids get into positions of authority?"  Well, probably the same thing that happened in the era following the Sixties.  Are hippies running our country, are they CEO's, are they teachers?  I really think so...you just can't tell because they've evolved on the outside.  But I don't want to go down that rabbit trail and scare you off.  The point is that we do change - or, evolve.  (hey, I don't see you going to work in silk shirts, bell bottom pants and platform shoes). 

We do change, but we don't forget how people treated us.  Don't judge.  Show respect and courtesy.  One day Gen X and Y will be taking care of us old hippies.  Why not juice that bank account now and help us all out?

The Purpose

...he stood in awe, in awe of what went before, of what is now and of what will be.  A secret glimpse into a window, a vista into time.  The Universe's mechanisms reveal crystalline order.  And the white lights reveal Symphonic Orchestration.  The paper blows from the table onto the floor - as it was meant to be, as it had always been meant to be.  His glimpse comes and goes within a fraction of a second.  It comes and goes a fraction of a second before he steps into an eternal black hole, a hole that runs from reality.  His glimpse reveals an eternal sense of Purpose moving forward on the train of Faith.  How could he give up if the Universe never gives up? 

The ant brings her food; the teacher attempts to advance her student's knowledge, the waves lap at the shore.  Everything moves forward.  He moves forward.  It had been nearly thirty years since he almost stepped into that black hole.  Indecision, not-knowing and confusion meet for coffee every day.  Once ensured that their collaborative effort for the day is in place, they knock on his door and step right into his life.  He boards the train of Faith, taking sword, steel and pen to the fight.  At day's end his mind and body ache, he is battle-weary.  But he never gives up.  He lives.  He moves forward.

He knows that the Universe's Purpose unfolds before his eyes every single day.  He knows that if he never gives up; that one day he'll catch the train he was meant to be on...because as it has always been meant to be, it will.

Inspiration by Terry Starbucker.

dave: Waz Upppppp?

I thought I'd take a moment to tell you where I am at. 

Unless you are updating your About page on your site everyday, it remains a static snapshot.  Of course this writing today is a static snapshot, but with it you'll feel movement. 

I have lost steam for RadioBack.  The magazine Business 2.0 was the leak's origination.  In a recent issue ( I think it was the one about new technology companies) of the now defunct publication, I hardly recognized one company that was written about.  This reveals a universe that is too big for one Starship.   One day RadioBack will take on an all together different mission and will reenter my life.

I am now doing the majority of my writing and posting on the weekends.   As one old friend told me, "the day job was getting in the way of my career."  With my health, I just don't have the energy through the workweek.  There is a blessing in disguise here.  I use the week to capture and collect writing ideas.  I might sneak in a cluster and then I allow the material to brew until the weekends.  I think the brewing process makes our writing more fluid.  I still get in a writing fix everyday by journaling.

My doctor thinks I have Psoriatic arthritis.  My pain is probably more in my muscles than joints.  Imagine having the type of flu that comes with body aches.  That is the way I feel everyday.  I am taking methotrexate.  The side effects of this medication kinda suck.  The funny thing is, if I can can get past the mental drain and life-sucking effect of a day at work, I can exercise.  I will walk or do something mild over the weekend and that feels pretty good.  My main concern with this affliction is how it is affecting  my drive to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.  That, and the whiny person I become around loved ones.

I am in one of those dave-zones where I have zero interest in management and leadership - almost to the point where I even start thinking about the subjects and I get a little nauseated.  Matter of fact, I have to do a review this weekend on a management book that will be my all time weirdest. 

I am juiced about the concept of design.  What can be created that:

• Makes another's life easier
• Communicates an understood message
• Is different
• Brings joy to someone
• Improves the environment
• Makes someone feel good
• Makes someone think
• Makes someone do something
• Helps someone to learn

On that last note, I am thoroughly enjoying my involvement in the Joyful Jubilant Learning Network.  Though we are separated by miles and even oceans, this community is united - united in that we all love the art of learning.  Please stop by if you have a chance.

Lately I've been inspired by Design Your Self, a book written by Karim Rashid.  Karim's sub title is "rethinking the way you live, love, work and play."  I have created my own Design Your Self notebook and have put together a design, a plan.  The only thing that I am doing different than what I do with my Covey system is that I am looking at this through the lens of design.  I am the designer.  I am using intent.  I can create what I want.  It is such a little thing but has become big for me.

I have taken up photography.  I say you are either a camera person or you're not.  I wasn't one but am now.  In the beginning I had to force myself to take my camera, a Casio EX-Z1050, with me everywhere I went.  It has now become habit.  My intent is to take pictures of design that inspire and hope the results of this process seep into my writing.

I have often said that if we hit the lotto, Rosemary and I would by a luxurious motorhome and tour the U.S.  Rosemary would work on her novel writing (she's already written three books) and I would interview people and write about who the person inside of them is.  I've recently refined my idea to writing about folks through the lens of design. 

Lets say you are defined by your culture, work, sense of place, family, spirituality and leisure.  This is your personal design and this is the lens through which I would like to write about you.

Personally, I would banish the resume into yesteryear and have folks assemble a brief on themselves.  It could be part essay, part your Web site and part of what I describe above as your personal design.

Well, this is where I am on the sixth day of October in the year 2007.

One Laptop Per Child

I wonder if...

If folks who are...

Are passionate...

About:

• Helping children
• Sharing knowledge
• Learning
• Collaborating with others
• Writing

I wonder if...

If there wouldn't be a way for these folks to collaborate and help children obtain and share knowledge?

Once upon a time there was a woman who touched the lives of a few people around the world.  Intention gave way to design which gave way to action.  Appreciation bore the strokes of pen down upon her manifesto as it traveled across the planet.   It eventually arrived at her door step.  It touched all involved.

Here lies intent in search of design in search of action in search of touching all involved.

OLPC