jarrodis:

“Maho Beach”, photos by Thomas Prior

Great Openings

An awesome and humorous opening to a news article about the NY Knicks(god bless them) falling to the mighty Miami Heat in the NBA playoffs.

Watching the Knicks play the Miami Heat five times over 12 days was competitively akin to the legendary sword fight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” when King Arthur hacks off the left arm of the Black Knight and says: “Now stand aside, worthy adversary.”

To which the defiant knight responds: “ ’Tis but a scratch,” and insists, after the right arm disappears, “Just a flesh wound.”

As injuries, both unlucky and self-inflicted, mounted, the Knicks stood their ground but were short of arms, weary of legs and ultimately left behind by an athletically superior and more organized team with much grander visions than first-round survival.

For anyone not following the NBA playoffs, the NY Knicks got dismantled by the Miami Heat in a best-of-7 series 4-1. Also, here’s the Monty Python sword fight video for those that haven’t watched the film.

Startup Story: Redux, Part 1

The last couple posts I’ve written have on a whole dealt with change, whether it was experiencing something new, getting out of my comfort zone, or adding something new to my daily routine. While there is definitely a plethora of experiences, things, and people to do in life, for most of us who are adults, we’ll be spending a majority of time at work. Change at work is hard and a delicate beast. From small companies to corporations, change can be nerve racking and exciting, like being on a roller coaster.

A few years ago I had the privilege of working with the team at Redux remotely in my college dorm and at home during the summer. Redux started out as a social networking site founded by a group of UC Berkeley students.

By the time I came on board in 2008 as a marketing intern, one of the original founders had left and Redux was focusing on creating media playlists. I made quirky playlists like Top 10 Funniest Dog Videos. After a couple months though, we found sharing playlists wasn’t sticky enough.

Redux moved towards a Twitter-Youtube real-time website. The best way to describe it was that it was like Twitter and Youtube. Back in late 2008 and early 2009, it was pretty awesome seeing people’s posts come in real time to the “stream”. The team in Berkeley was trying to revolutionize the way people talked about media. Instead of leaving comments, people would have real-time conversations. I still remember one of the first iterations of the “stream” which updated every single time anyone shared media, gave props to someone’s share, or were “talking” about a share. There were no filters and the stream would continuously update!

In upcoming posts, I’ll share what I remember from my experiences in more detail. Until then, be sure to check out what Redux is up to now.

“Veep”, a new original HBO series premiering tonight!

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Next on my reading list…

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iPod Collection, there are so many!

Launching Tech Ventures - class blog →

While reading a post on AVC about Fred Wilson sharing his insights to MBA students, I found this blog and read through a few posts which I found insightful. 

This blog collects student, guest, and instructor posts from Launching Technology Ventures, a Harvard Business School MBA elective course that examines lean startup management practices.

The students cover a variety of topics and experiences and I can’t stop reading!

Since the 1995 release of Toy Story, Pixar has released nearly a dozen award winning animated films. The critically acclaimed animation studio returns this summer with Brave. 

Synopsis:

Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor. Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin, surly Lord Macintosh and cantankerous Lord Dingwall. Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

  Check it out when it comes to theaters on June 22, 2012!

Building Community, One Spaghetti Dinner at a Time

Last week, I attended a community dinner hosted by an older couple in their apartment. It was an eclectic gathering of family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. For the past six years, every Wednesday night, they’ve opened up their apartment for “spaghetti night”.

Matt and I pick up Caleb from work, who originally invited Matt to this weekly gathering. As raindrops lightly tap the windshield, I start asking them questions about spaghetti night.

“There’s really no good way to describe it…” After a few moments, Matt simply answers with a wily grin, “it’s spaghetti night.”

I glance at him and reply that really doesn’t help much. Before I can ask more questions, he asks Caleb what’s he’s missed since the last spaghetti night. 

In a serious tone, Caleb talks about how two of the guests at spaghetti night got into an argument and challenged each other to a duel and one of them got hurt really bad. I look at him in disbelief and see a deadpanned face. Almost immediately, Matt calls bullshit on the entire story. Caleb insists it happened, but eventually shrugs it off of as a tall tale. I can already sense spaghetti night has its own unique personality.

—-

When you first walk into their apartment, it’s about the size of two racquetball courts. There are no walls dividing living spaces. On one end of the apartment is a bed, drawers, and shelves. In between is a couch, a couple comfy chairs, television, and shelves. There’s also a bunch of bicycle parts, wheels, and various tools strewn around in a corner (I would later learn the host repairs bicycles). On the far side is the kitchen, table, and a small observation room with views of the city. 

I follow Matt and Caleb towards the kitchen area and I’m introduced to the other guests. One of them is Brock, co-host with his wife of spaghetti night. Within the first minute of our conversation, I learn that he’s a retired programmer, turned high school teacher. He’s probably one of the friendliest and down to earth people I’ve met.

After a round of pleasantries and short conversation with two other guests, I find myself glancing around for someone else to talk to. There’s sometimes that awkward moment when you walk into a room full of people you don’t know. It’s like a fight or flee mentality.

I’m trying to gauge the atmosphere and see who to talk to next when Jesse, the salesman approaches and offers a firm handshake. We strike up a conversation and talk about work, hobbies, and where we’re from. We’re joined by my friends and eventually we’re deep in conversation about random topics like graduate school and house values.

By now, more people have made their way up the flight of stairs to spaghetti night. I meet a bunch of them and hear their stories. There’s a hospital dietician, a pair of childhood friends who are attending the same university, a number of avid cyclists and nearly a dozen others from all walks of life. Everyone is friendly and greeted each other like old childhood friends.

Just before dinner, I meet Bre. For the past hour or so, she’s been the ultimate chef cooking spaghetti, homemade tomato sauce, baking garlic bread, and a surprise “birthday cake” for over a dozen guests.

I learn that she and Brock have been doing this for at least six years (she doesn’t exactly remember when they started) and they haven’t had a vacation in three years. That is commitment. Spaghetti night has become a regular, fun, and integral part of their lives and the many guests they’ve hosted in previous community dinners.

I wonder how they’ve sustained it for so long, especially with the number of new people who must come every week.

Bre replies that there are only two rules:

1. You are always welcome back
2. You don’t need to come back with the person that invited you, and you can bring a friend.

It sounds so simple and somewhat intrepid to host a dinner every week that’s open to anyone. Yet, for over half a decade, Brock and Bre have been open and friendly to just about everyone that’s come over for spaghetti night. It just shows that if you make the effort to lower artificial barriers, stop stereotyping, or being narrow-minded, you have an incredible opportunity to see more of the picture.

It’s also a way to organically build a community. By keeping it “open”, spaghetti night is always full of interesting people to meet, and that keeps conversations fresh and exciting. They also have sort of a referral system, where guests can invite their friends to the community dinner. But the real beauty of it is you don’t have to come back with the person that invited you. Spaghetti night isn’t for everyone, just like Star Wars isn’t everyone’s favorite movie (it’s one of mine). The people who go to spaghetti night and enjoy it will continue coming back and they talk to their friends about and invite them over. Thus, the cycle continues and a weekly tradition is born.

Speaking of traditions, every guest or almost every one who has gone to spaghetti night gets their height and name marked on the wall, sort of like a guestbook. There are dozens and dozens of marks and scribbled names besides them. Luckily, there haven’t been as many guests as tall as me, so I’m able to find a tiny white space and scribble my name.

Probably one of the coolest parts of the community dinner was when Bre surprised one of the guests with a sweet potato birthday pie! It was just fascinating and heartwarming to see more than a dozen people I just met sitting around a table with faces dimly lit by the candles singing happy birthday.

Thanks for the good food and company and a memorable experience!

—-

Looking back, it was an opportunity for me to meet, talk to, and learn from people I don’t regularly interact or hang out with. I thought about how I’ve been in a regular routine and in my comfort zone. While I’m in cruise control, I don’t usually think too hard about what if I did or looked at something differently. It made me realize I’m missing the big picture. It’s like walking into a supermarket and picking up the same red delicious apple, while ignoring granny smith apples and oranges. Fruity analogies aside, just take a moment out of cruise control and look around. I think you’ll be amazed at what’s out there and use the new things you’ve seen and experienced and apply it to your daily life.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! :-)

*some of the names have been changed in the post

One of the great classic illustrated books from my childhood.

Goodwill gesture

While we were waiting for our volleyball game to start, one of my teammates Kyle noticed a little kid trying to buy a drink from the vending machine. He was probably no more than 7 years old. Kyle and I glanced over and saw the him try again to no avail to push a five dollar bill into the machine.

Kyle walked over and helped him put the five dollar bill into the machine again. Unfortunately, to the little boy’s disappointment, it still didn’t work. Instead of walking away and telling the kid tough luck, Kyle went into his wallet and pulled out a crisp five dollar bill and exchanged it for the wrinkled and folded five dollar bill

Despite their best efforts, the vending machine still didn’t accept the new bill. After a few more tries, Kyle told him to go back to his parents and tell them the vending machine wasn’t working and to get a drink from the concession stand. After a quick thank you, the little kid sped off to find his parents.

Kyle’s actions are just one of the many examples big or small that have positive effects on others and the community. It can be as simple as washing your own dishes after dinner to volunteering at the local food bank. Although others may not immediately acknowledge it, chances are they will appreciate your help and return the goodwill to you in the future. 

Sweet Potato Pie

I’ve definitely been missing out on desserts. A couple days ago, I tried Sweet Potato Pie, baked by a very kind lady who was hosting a community dinner with her husband in their apartment. Often reserved for holidays like Thanksgiving, sweet potato pie made an appearance as a surprise “birthday cake” for one of the guests.

I didn’t get the chance to ask for the recipe, so I looked up some sweet potato pie recipes and found a pecan-crusted sweet potato pie by Food Network’s Alton Brown that I think best resembled the pie I had.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 3 ounces sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/4 cups plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup packed, dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 5 egg yolks
• Salt
• 1 (9-inch) deep dish, frozen pie shell
• 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• Special equipment: steamer basket

Directions