Musings of Erin

I just ran into some of the ‘crew’ from high school - it was weird, really. Weird to see how much they’ve changed, and how much they’ve stayed the same. I guess I never thought I’d see someone who’d crashed his head into asphalt more times than I can count to grow up to be an investment banker. “I dare you” got JL to do just about anything… and still will

I’m not sure that I’d hire him to help with my finances, though. (sorry, JL)

Seeing them makes me want to go play in the snow. I’m going to plan a trip to Breckinridge or Aspen next season - it’s too late for this season. And, this time, I’m not going to sit in the condo, I’m really going to go out there and take some friggin lessons. I wish I could hire someone to be my nag - you know, come and wake me up in the morning, make me go to the lift, etc. etc. Who would want that job??

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My birthday is in 5 days - March 2… I made a stupid wishlist, mom, just like you wanted. you can find it here http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3RLZHW1HNFUP4
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I was reading a recent article Malcolm gladwell article in The New Yorker - Troublemaker from the 2-6-06 issue. It’s really good, deals with generalizations and stereotypes. My favorite lines:

“It doesn’t work to generalize about a relationship between a category and a trait when that relationship isn’t stable—or when the act of generalizing may itself change the basis of the generalization.”
Sometimes it only takes a single sentence to throw me into a tangent… my husband has been hearing all about it tonight.

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It is universally acknowledged that preschool plays a critical role in the educational and social development of children. proposed in his new state budget a provision that would grant all three and four year-olds access to preschool, regardless of income. While Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida currently offer pre-k to four year-olds, Illinois would become the first state to provide genuinely universal preschool in the country’s history.

Finally, we’re moving in the right direction.

I say we change the whole system to something like Belguim’s. There, all the funds for public education are attached to the student, and not the school. Therefore, if the school does a shitty job of educating students, the students leave to another school. If enough students leave, the school goes out of business.

What a novel idea, eh?

Sweet Victory: Preschool for All

Tags: preschool, public education, education reform

I’m seriously addicted to the Olympics this year - partially because I’ve always really admired those athletes, and partially because most of my generation will be out of them by the time Vancouver in 2010 rolls around.

While watching the Men’s Speed Skating the other night, I realized how much instinct plays in the sport. Apolo Anton Ohno was racing the 1000m - it was a great race! Started out the race at the end of the pack of, I think, 6 skaters. He was very calculating, sparing energy until the very last moment - until Lee Ho-Suk moved up to the lead. Then, Ohno sped up and got into the 2nd position and waited to strike for gold.

I’m sure everything looked lovely from his end. He had a plan, and he was ready to pounce on 1st place. Just as he was about to take over the 1st position - on the second-to-last turn (I believe), out of nowhere Ahn Hyun-Soo zoomed by him in the turn and Ohno was left in third place. He couldn’t pass either Hyun-Soo or Ho-Suk, and ended with the bronze medal.

Now, I’m not saying that the bronze is anything to scoff at - I’m surely not an olympian athlete. But, I’m sure Ohno wasn’t counting on getting the third position that day.

After looking over the race again later in the evening, I saw what Hyun-Soo did - he hung back just like Ohno did, and took a wide turn to get extra speed and a good angle around that corner. In doing so, he was able to zoom by Ohno and race to the finish in 2nd place.

Now, what exactly does this have to do with business? A lot, in my opinion.

A lot of us, we want to start out in the first place position. We want to get there, and when we are there we expect to stay there. Interestingly enough, those who begin in first place rarely finish there

Others, we are smart and bide our time until the opportunity arises. We are calculating - and we usually win. Sometimes though, we are overthrown with those who are just a little more patient than us, by those who are able to see the bigger picture.

When I see new business owners that are ready to explode onto the scene - on many levels I want to make them slow down. I want to tell them that they’re going too fast, that they’re going to blow all their steam before the race is half over.

Why don’t I? I’m not a coach - so I suppose it’s not my place. But, it makes me wonder if business coaches are really telling their clients to hold back… or, if they’re teaching them the skills to bide their time and snatch that victory at the most opportune time.

~E

Olympics, business, speedskating, Apolo Anton Ohno


Boris Artzybasheff

The real cause of ‘the war on drugs’

It’s no secret to anyone that I’m totally against the war on drugs - it’s a ludicrious attempt at the government to control our toxin intake. Its such a load of bullshit - they allow cigarettes and alcohol (which I think is way worse); yet they ban the soft stuff. What are the pot-heads going to do to society - eat our way into oblivion? Maybe the happy trippers are just too much - gov’t can’t stand that much happiness.

“G**damnit, we founded this country of life, liberty and all that jazz - not giggly, hungry buffoons! Give ‘em alcohol - make the jerks angrier, the depressed suicidal, and the kids completely out of control!”

The whole thing just confuses me… why not just take the money that’s entrusted to the grand empirical ATF for fighting those poor pot-heads and put it to good use - like actually creating decent school & healthcare systems. Tax the shit out of it, like they do everything else, and take those funds and put them to good use. I wonder how much we would save if we eliminated the war on pot, got those poor fools out of jail, and taxed marijuana out the wazoo? Maybe we could actually pay for the real war that’s going on in Iraq.

(For the record, the ATF doesn’t make much sense to me either - alcohol, tobacco, and firearms? Maybe that’s what the most dangerous criminal possess?)