LOST IN MASTICATION

Two thumbs up for Noah Haidle’s play, Saturn Returns at South Coast Repertory.

On a whim, @PadrePablo and I decided to get rush tickets.  It’s only the second time that we’ve seen a show at SCR.  The first time we saw a preview showing of Hamlet.  We’re both 2 for 2 and impressed with the caliber of plays right in our own backyard.

The story follows Gustin Novak through three phases of his life: at 28, 58 and 88 years young, though not chronologically.  At each stage of his life you see Gustin interact with a different woman who brings equally different meaning to his life: Loretta, Zephyr and Suzanne.  Each of the different relationships is a reaction to an experience he’s had throughout his life in a small Michigan town.  “Saturn” is a reference to the nearly 30 years that it takes for the planet to make one orbit around the sun.

The three female characters are brilliantly and uniquely played by one actress, Kristen Bush.  And each Gustin, (Nick Ullett at 88,  Conor O’Farrell at 58, and Graham Michael Hamilton at 28), plays a stubborn, hardened, and simultaneously gentle father and husband.  I laughed, cried, giggled and scoffed.  Saturn Returns is a story full of emotions and keeps you completely entertained for the full 80 minutes.

Turns out it was the preview evening.  But as fresh off rehearsal as the cast was, it was a great show and worth every dollar.

With Opera Pacific having folded half way through the last season, I often worry about SCR’s fate too.  But if they continue to feature well-written and well-played scripts like Saturn Returns… I don’t think there’s much to worry about.

The play runs through November 22 at SCR.

[This post is part of several that are my lay attempts at applying the economic and social interest theories to my assumptions, and pragmatically evaluating the options.]

As GDP increases, medical care will undoubtedly increase as well.  So it’s apt time that we take a look at health care reform.

What motivates government?  Why do we have the health policies that we have? How likely is it that we’ll have a different health policy in the future?

I think these are points that we don’t consider everyday, and understanding how we got to where we are today is important.  And part of understanding history is knowing about the factors that fall under the two largest forces driving the debate  – economic and political interests.

Economic Forces include:

• Demands for care.  The demands are dependent on prices of services, insurance costs and the economy.
• Costs for providing care.  For example, as technology increases, costs will increase too.
• Market structure. Competitive markets = lower price increases and more choices. Antitrust policy is important here.
• Incentives. Depending on the types of economic incentives available, all of the above are affected.

Political Forces also include:

• Demands for care.
• Costs for providing care.
• Market structure.
• Incentives.

In an economic market, companies compete against other similar companies.  Under political influence, these competitors become allies because collectively companies want to make sure that public policy does not increase costs. These public policies affects both finance and regulations.

In the beautiful town of Kanazawa, Japan, there is a gentle soul who teaches in class, everyday, something that I never even knew existed until just a couple months ago: emotional intelligence.

I’m not a parent yet, so I can’t say how much I would want to protect my children from the pains of life.  But I think allowing children to discover happiness and pain, and guiding them to be emotionally intelligent, is a critical missing piece in our education system.

At the end of my MBA, I took the MSCEIT assessment and learned a lot about how I perceive and emit emotions.  It’s really helped me understand why I do or say something, and other times, how differently to approach situations.

I am great at perceiving the emotions and moods of others.  I read people really well, and my gut instinct is right-on.  However, I am horrible at describing how I feel and allowing others to read me – which on the positive side, allows me to control extreme rage.

I venture to guess that most people go through life without ever being aware of their emotional being and the impact of their words and actions on others.  Life is perhaps easier this way.

But I can’t help but think how much better the world, the workplace, and families would all be, if people weren’t so naïve about their actions and reactions to each other.

No matter how old you are, I think there are good lessons to be learned from this series, “Children Full of Life”.

When the kids outline their bodies and fill it in with who they are, where they’ve come from, it reminds me of the personal collage I did at my closing residential retreat.

Here’s to all the wonderful teachers in the world… inside and outside the classroom:

My newly earned degree is nearly a month old.

Three years ago, when I started back at school, I couldn’t have imagined where I would be at the end of this journey.  I was completely unsure as to why I was going to business school – except for the fact that my better half thought it was a great idea, and I was bored out of my mind.

Going into the program, I was already a manager.  I had a pretty good job, great staff, and a house to call a home.  Life was pretty much good.  But I wasn’t content.

Coming out of the program, I’m still a manger with the same pretty good job, staff and home.  Life is still good even in these uncertain economic times.  But I’m still not content.

So what did all this debt get me that I couldn’t have otherwise learned on my own for free?

A lot.

Lesson #1: My core won’t let me be content. I’ll always be driven by a “what’s next?” curiosity.  Before I even finish one project, I’m already trying to figure out what to do next.  Being in classes and working in teams, I’ve learned how to make this impatience work for me.  As well, I am aware of how to make my personality work in harmony with other personality types.

Lesson #2: It isn’t just about who you know. The old adage goes: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”  For me, it’s about how you interact with people – whether you know them or not.  How can I interact with people so that I get the most benefit from a relationship? What do I have to offer to someone, and how do I optimize what they have to offer me?

Yes, I use people and I want people to use me.  But all for the betterment of each other.

Lesson #3: My hobbies can work for me. I used to always say that I’d never make my hobbies into a career because then I’d start to hate it.  I don’t believe that anymore.  I think making a career out of my hobbies is what will gain me the most in life.  I’ll be more motivated to become better at what I do, have more time to do the things I want, and even be rewarded for it by making a living out of a passion.  It’s OK to mix work with pleasure.

Lesson #4: It’s just time and money. The past three years has taken a lot of time and money away from my regular life, but in the end, I am better off.  I lost three years with family and friends – but it’s three years that I got to focus on myself, and an investment in becoming a better wife, daughter, sister and friend (I hope).

Being too busy, I’ve not been able to maintain some friendships and have had to pass-up some great opportunities.  But the friends that are meant to be are still here today, and greater opportunities yet unknown await somewhere in the future.

In one of the first conversations I ever had with Paul, he asked me if I’d ever redo anything in my life – any major regrets?  I said, not a single thing.  I still hold by that answer… I’ve done some stupid things as everyone does, but I wouldn’t be who I am without having had those experiences to learn from.

On second thought, I would do one thing over… I would do the FEMBA 09B experience all over in a heartbeat.

In our last class together in Lake Arrowhead, we all shared about our hopes for the next five years and what experiences in our lives would help get us there.  This was a powerful moment for all of us.  I don’t remember what I said in my speech anymore… something about living separate lives with Paul for a better future, a desire to nurture the entrepreneurial bug inside me, and finding the guts to make my passion my career.  I think.

I don’t remember what I said because I was so lost in, and touched by, the encouragement and words of gratitude that my classmates my friends gave me.  If ever I’ve been humbled, it was that moment in the mountains – the same foggy mountain that Paul and I drove up on our wedding night.

The friends that I’ve made are worth more than the tens of thousands of dollars it cost to be able to add the three letters to my name.  I have a group of girlfriends with whom I’ll always share a bottle of wine.  A business partner and “brother” that I’ve never had.  And many a couple-friends that Paul and I will undoubtedly double, triple, quadruple date with for the rest of our lives.

I finally feel grown up… finally feel that I’ve come into my own.

Perhaps it’s crossing that 30 mark that did it too.

Or the two gray hairs I found a couple weeks ago.

Whatever it is, the MBA has really opened my eyes to a whole new world.

And because the one thing that the past three years hasn’t taught me is how to say “thank you” in person to those who really helped me through it all… I say thank you here.

To Paul.  My parents.  My sister.  My in-laws.

THANK YOU… and HOOAH!

I was lying in bed looking at my iPhone when I saw a tweet from @jakrose about President Obama in Prague live on CNN.

As I watch it, I can’t help but be nostalgic for this week last year when I was experiencing Prague in person.  The feeling towards Americans then was, I bet, far different than it is today:

STOP PRASATUM, POLICE NICH UNIFORMACH!
YANKEES & RADAR GO HOME!

I don’t know why I feel so connected to Prague.  All I know is I really want to go back, and hopefully even live there one day.

Rumors abound at SXSW via @kevinrose of Digg that iPhone 3.0 will finally have “cut and paste”.  Also rumored is “mutli-tasking”, which allows a user to run multiple applications and “alt-tab” between them.

Sadly, no confirmation of MMS.  And definitely no video capture ability either according to the interview.

If you can sketch an idea on a napkin, then Prezi is the presentation tool for you.  Adam and I just gave our first Prezi-ntation using this “zooming presentation editor”, and it went off really well.

Prezi is a different way of thinking about presentations – not at all like traditional slideshows made in Powerpoint or Keynote.  In fact, Prezi is more like an interactive Flash video, but without having to use the Adobe Flash or know about timelines, paths or layers.

Prezi starts with a blank slate and you map out a presentation as orderly or disorderly as you want.  You can use frames to anchor areas to include photos and text into, similar to a single slide in a traditional slideshow.  Create the path which you want the presentation to travel in, by hooking assets (frames, images, video, PDF files, text) with anchors.

Click on the screenshot to view the Internet marketing class project for our client Surf City MX (@surfcitymx):

The toolbar/menu is also unlike a traditional desktop software.  And the “transformation zebra” – the blue striped concentric circles of the logo – isn’t immediately intuitive.  But if you take the short tutorials (complete with Hungarian accent), it’s pretty easy to pick up.  Here’s a look at the tool-cluster:

I like Prezi because it’s a different way to engage your audience with presentations.  Powerpoint and Keynote come out with new animations and other visual candy with each release, but you can’t get away from the old transperancy on an overhead projector frame.  Prezi is all online – no installation of software, upgrading or toting files on a thumb drive.

There are still things lacking in Prezi such as the selection of themes, the ability to customize your own theme.  I’d like to see Prezi allow embedding of video, images or text from the Web, much like Tumblr.  What if it could take a URL and have the screen shot appear on the Prezi with full navigability?  And hopefully a link to embed Prezis elsewhere on the Web (think YouTube videos).  All in due time, I hope.

Prezi is still in private beta, but you can apply on their homepage to be a tester.  Try it out if you can!

ACCORD. Type this in as an entry to name Node 3 of the International Space Station (ISS) at NASA’s contest page here.  Then help me spread the word!

NASA’s one criteria: “The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity and Node 2- Harmony.”

It’s only fitting, especially given the definitions of unity, harmony and accord from thefreedictionary.com.

u·ni·ty n. 2. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.

har·mo·ny n. 1. Agreement in feeling or opinion; accord: live in harmony

ac·cord v. 1. To cause to conform or agree; bring into harmony.

My dad’s a rocket scientist so I’ve had fascinations at one point or another about the Space Shuttle, Galileo Satellite, and the International Space Station (ISS).  So much so that I used to collect all of the STS mission posters and patches.  Yeah, call me a geek.

I remember participating in the naming contest for the shuttle Endeavour in 5th grade.  We didn’t win, but I have another chance to name a space space-bound object!

I did my obligatory post on the randomness of me:

1. It did not say that I would have bad luck for seven years if I didn’t do it.
2. The first person that tagged me is someone I don’t know too well, and I felt like I got to look into his soul. So I wanted to share back.
3. Whatever I wrote on this list, I would be remembered for at my memorial service – not the 25 skeletons in my closet, which are reserved for those who I’ve shared those experiences with.
4. And because as much as I’d like to say I’m a trailblazer… I am a conformer.

OK – I’ll end there.  25 Random Things is the only fad I’ll succumb to… Until the next one from a friend – who I may or may not be friends with in real life – tags me in Facebook and inspires me all over again.

(more…)

Ala Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor and The Hills, comes The District: Ever wondered what it would be like if the makers of MTV’s hit “The City” made a reality show about Obama’s first 100 days?  Wonder no more… New webisodes on Monday’s:

This is pure genius from Newsweek: They’re definitely b’arack-in’ the youth, a demographic that is probably more apt to read blogs than news magazines.  And it’s a great way to recap the week’s events at the highest level of government.  I’ve never been a regular reader of Newsweek, but they have me following for at least the next 100 days.

Now where’s the “Fan” page for The District in Facebook?  Get on it, Newsweek!

Hattip to @starlah for the original tweet.