Blog

So, in the interests of expressing my interest in blogs, public affairs and communications, I’ve launched another blog, Digitized Collective. My goal is to focus this on how communications is being changed by the “digital medium”. Sounds cool, eh?

The past few weeks has been one of serious self-evaluation. Though I liked my last position, I suffered from a lingering sense of “blah”. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’ve wanted to do in order to grow. Getting laid off provides a crucial moment to dive into this self-assessment. Besides the time (which hasn’t been as present as I hoped) to do so, there also is the element of necessity. Knowing that I need to find another job, and wanting to ensure that whatever I land next is something with more satisfaction, has compelled me to be deliberate.

So, after all this, I’m thinking of diving into the “communications” space. Particularly, I hope to blend my love of writing with tech and blogs. We’ll see what comes of it. I have seen some companies searching for folks with this background.

With all this, I’ve had several tools recommended to me. Particularly, LinkedIn, Jobster and Indeed. I’m just starting my dive into these sites, so I’ll keep you abreast of my learnings. I can tell you that I’ve found Jobster very interesting, at least as far as the jobs it’s presented.

One last idea that I’m coming to terms with is this notion of “Me, inc”. Basically, I need to look at my career in terms of, well, myself. My attachment to a company needs to be conditional.  I guess another way to look at this is to think of myself as a contractor. As you can see, I’m just developing this notion. Expect me to flesh this out more soon.

Darkness, blue-black, embraces all I see. Everything outside wall-and-window’s bounds blurred, buried within inky thickness; familiar now mystery. Robin’s call pierces, a gentle fanfare for spring. Sunlight slowly blues the black, each moment fades mystery; familiar rediscovered. Black fades, now semi-violet blue, change imperceptible. My eyes close briefly, patiently. Light’s change now clear. Slowly, gently births this day.

It’s been a rather rough week to get a post in. That saddens me, as I’ve not posted much lately and felt a desire to turn that around. I’ve learned a heck-of-a-lot this week, which I’ll write more about later (perhaps this weekend???). However, there’s something I’ve been meaning to write a bit more about: the “demise” of the Seattle PI.

I’m just tired of the word “demise”. Folks, it ain’t dead. The web version is still going strong. Actually, I think it’s quite well. Only the print version has been laid to rest. So, this is more like an amputation than a death. A key piece of the institution is gone, and the entity has undergone a seismic shift. On the other side of this coin, they have unloaded a relic. By removing this element, they should be freed to innovate. And they’ve set innovation up as a must. There’s no way back; it’s innovate or die. Considering the talent onboard, they can make it work. Management’s role needs to be facilitating the innovation. As long as they don’t get in the way, I think it’ll work, and work well. Good luck, folks! Knock ‘m dead!

I’m convinced that someone in Geico’s marketing department is friends with Rockwell and that whole campaign is a scheme to get the guy royalty bucks. Anyway, perhaps I’m not part of their core demographic, but this eyeball stalker thing is starting to annoy me. I might consider shifting to Allstate, as their ads assume I’m intelligent. Perhaps a rash assumption…

Last week, as many of you are aware, Obama gave a speech to which the Republican Governor of Louisiana gave the official reply. The statement which gives me the most consternation is his condemnation of $14 million (though he gives the amount as $140 million) for volcano monitoring. Now, perhaps if you live in a place without such, you might be inclined to view this as pork (however, if you live in a state that depends heavily on federal hurricane monitoring, you’d think you might be more sympathetic). However, as someone who lives nearby several, I’m not amused, but Krugman’s response sums up my views nicely.

Why is the Republican party so hell-bent on becoming the party of knee-jerk irrational though and stupid commentary? Time and time again Bush has worked hard to ensure any shred of respect I struggled to find was eroded. Then we had Palin, and now this (there are other pieces at play, too, but I don’t want to get too long-winded). Once upon a time I was a Republican, mostly out of a believe in the importance of responsibility and public accountability. Though those values are still solid, the Republican party is not the place to find this. Nor is it the place to find public discourse of rational thought (start with RNC Chair Steele). What’s saddest is that I can no longer support the few remaining rational Republicans out there, as the party’s descent is too intractable.

I received a lovely email from the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) news service, which just got me in a tizzy: LCMS President Responds to ELCA Task Force Recommendation, Statement 09-053-MRC (full text here). I’m just amazed at this fellow’s arrogance.

“Kieschnick also reminded LCMS members of a resolution passed by the church’s 2001 convention that the LCMS “cannot consider (the ELCA) to be an orthodox church body,” but “we of the LCMS recognize that many of our brothers and sisters of the ELCA remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we resolve to reach out to them in love and support.”

I know it will shock Mssr. Kieschnick that there are people of thoughtful, prayer-filled, and committed Christians that are in support of the ELCA’s decision and direction (I am one of them). I, for one, am surprised that anyone can study the path of Jesus and subscribe to this anti-gay mindset.

Just because there is a 2,000+ year tradition of homosexuality as sinful is no reason to continue it. Tradition apart from reason and compassion is simply brutal. Kieschnick should carefully review the state of society (both globally and for the society in question) before wistfully wishing for a 2,000 year retreat. I, for one, stand against such on many principles.

I guess that I should be thankful that he and the LCMS are simply calling for them to pray for me/us – as opposed to the Fred Phelps “protest/harass/badger/nuisance mentality. However, perhaps it would be good for such folks to follow the guidance of a certain jewish philosopher from the 1st century CE and “remove the plank from their own eye before trying to remove the spec from mine”

(for the uninitiated, the LCMS = Lutheran Church Missouri Synod – and this isn’t the first time I’ve been tweaked by their stance on an ELCA issue)

Update: on the 11th, I was one of the unfortunate many laid off by my magnanimous (former) employer. Now, for many, this was an emotional calamity. For me, though, with the lovely weather we’ve (for the most part) had, along with having free-time to let my brain wander free, it has been a nice respite. With my last employer (a frantically paced Fortune 500), it was nearly impossible to make the time to reflect and be planful. After a brief foray into slothness (oh, what delights that brings), I’ve awakened my inner Franklin-Covey geek and have launched into some self-analysis and refocusing.

For some time I’ve been wondering what I want from this thing “career”. For so many folks it’s a key defining piece of their existence (sometimes THE defining piece). I’m still hedging. Basically, I’ve never fully committed to the notion of a career, at least as a single discipline. I’m not, say, an accountant, nor programmer, nor anything that linear. The closest I could place myself in this context is “administrative assistant”, which doesn’t mean much in-and-of itself. Simply, it is the title I’ve had most often. The main thing it means, though, is that I’ve not spent that much time in charge of major efforts. Mostly, I’ve been the person executing project work. On one of my recent evaluations, one of my listed strengths was “getting things done”. I have found such quite enjoyable, at times challenging and encompassing a wide variety of work. That’s the sort of thing I’ve always enjoyed. For a while, though, I’ve had this nagging sense that it isn’t enough – perhaps a year or so.

Lately, I’ve become more interested in strategy. I’ve also noticed that I’ve become a bit bored by details (whereas, I used to delight in the mind-numbing morass of extreme detail). Now, though, I think I’m attracted to the title “analyst”. There’s some detail to such work, but it’s not the “we’ll need pencils at the event, and how many cupcakes should I order?” stuff I’ve dealt with for years. Part of me still enjoys that stuff, however. Mainly, though, since it’s second nature and I can generally hit home-runs with little effort. In other words: laziness.

We’ll see what comes my way. Between my severance and unemployment, I don’t need to take the first desperate position that comes along. Which is good since there’s a bit of a dearth out there.