No one ever learned anything by talking. Not enough of us listen. We're so concerned about speaking, writing, or thinking about what we're gonna say that we're not listening. Not leanring.

Sometimes I speak and I know that words are coming out but no knows listening. They just seem to be thinking about what their going to say next.

Believe it of not, I don't speak to hear myself talk.

Maybe I need to change my approach. Nobody's listening. Maybe I should stop talking.

it begins today. a 12 day, 2 continent, 2 city business trip.
tthis am i go to sacramento for a show on sunday. then on monday i go to london for a show on saturday.
and yes, i have to fly united to and from london.

I had a co-worker say to me the other day these words "put in your time". It wasn't to remind me as much as it was a reminder to that person.

I believe the statement. I always have. But I act out the statement. How can I improve? How can I make us better? These are the questions that occur to me.

You know when I was in Boston on vacation I saw this on a sign in the bathroom, "If you're irreplaceable then that means you can never advance."

True enough I suppose.

Why is it that politicians and cults are the only ones who have compounds'?

You never hear of an accountant or a CEO having a compound but anytime you mention a politician or a cult leader they always seem to have' em.

Is there a a certain real estate listing for these places?

It's always "the Kennedy Compound" or "the McCain Compound" or the "Branch Davidian Compound". Seriously, what qualifies as a "compound"?

Are there guards or gun turrets or something? Maybe a rabid dog? Or is it just a vicious PR  person?

And if you could have would you really want one?

It's official, Michael Lewis has become my favorite author. He has passed Chuck Palahinuk, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson.

Why? He's above all a great read. He's not pompous, he's not over articulate, he just writes incredible interesting non fiction.

I picked up The New New Thing while at McKay's in Knoxville (Damn I miss that store) It's about Jim Clark, the finder of the next thing or as Lewis so adequately puts it, the new new thing. And he doesn't find he "gropes" according to Lewis.

Clark is an interesting cat. Happier with figuring out then enjoying the solution. He is the founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape, and Healtheon. Of course now these companies aren't quit the ideals that Clark originally had for them but in any event Clark really liked the idea of getting paid...a lot and building, at the time, the world's biggest sail boat.

I don't believe that this is Lewis' best book. I still reserve that for Moneyball. But this one is damn good. You get an up close look at the man who some say started the Internet bubble back in the 90's and how Silicon Valley worked back in its heyday.

I came across this book on NPR's web site. It was someone talking about sci fi books that crossover. One of the books on the  list was Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which is one of my favorite books, and another was Joe Haldeman's Forever War.

Haldeman is a Vietnam Vet and set the book at a time when Vietnam vets would be the heads of the military yet there's space travel and humanity is fighting an alien race so first off you have to suspend your disbelief in this regard.

The the book is about super smart drafted men and women training and then fighting a war against an alien race (later it turns our that the only reason their was a war was because of a breakdown in communication between the two species) and also how alien they feel when they return home. Haldeman makes lightspeed travel super long so that when the hero William Mandella returns home he may only have aged 2 years but everyone on Earth aged 20.

The main points that Haldeman touches on include the alienation and isolation veterans feel when they come home and why some are perpetually stuck in the military not by choice but by necessity because their once current skills are now drastically out of date.

At one point, Haldeman makes all of the new members of the military gay because the powers that be on Earth decided that it was the best population control.

Forever war may not have been the most compelling sci fi read of all time but it's not bad. Haldeman's character development lacked a little bit but they overall points he was making outweighed that. So you have to take the good with the bad.

I went to Boston to go to a Red Sox game, see Harvard and MIT and have some beers with a friend at various bars around the Boston area.

I accomplished these goals hence a successful vacation.

Fenway is cool (better with better weather), MIT and Harvard are neat, and the Haymarket and North End are not appreciated enough. I had better time in Haymarket and the North End then I did at MIT and Harvard.

More pictures of my trip to come.

boston. it's been cold. but its a big sports day here. the celtics are playing game 7 and 30 minutes after that the red sox play across town. time to settle up next to the bar.

multiple plane rides with a pretty good hangover. good ride on a train. the red sox lose 3-0. fish and chips and a local band butchering radiohead songs.