Does instant information mean too much access?

Last week Siouxsioux shared a comment on my recent blog: Photo Cops Suck:

“I agree — a “real” traffic cop stop is more humane and allows for exceptions. However, your wake-up call ties in with what I’m feeling in this spy-info-obsessed environment. We like 24-hour automated tellers, expect instant assistance from Google and appreciate GPS-assistance complete with photos of where we’re going or where we’ve been … but no one likes being spied upon. If we keep willingly giving away info and expecting instant, automated assistance, at what point does it lead to too much outside control … with no turning back?”

Siouxsioux’s comment really made me think of how often I am impatient and frustrated when the gadgets in my life are not moving as fast as my brain might be working. It reminds me of Louis CK on Conan O’Brien a few years ago. The part relating to our world of automation starts around 2:45 in the video clip. Another great section is at 3:25 regarding our impatience with the Internet not working while flying on an airplane. He later says how a plane flight now consists of, “you watch a movie, take a dump, and you are home.”

There is a balance of instant access to information on our iPhones, iPads, and laptops, and what security and privacy we may not even know we are forfeiting while searching and utilizing that information. As Siouxsioux mentioned, I wonder at what cost. I know I am slightly addicted to the Internet. Well, more that slightly addicted to instant information at my fingertips. I am assuming that Words with Friends knows how often we play, or how addicted we are, Facebook can tell almost anything about our lives, our local library knows what we read, the grocery store you frequent knows what you eat and buy, and Amazon can tell a lot about your spending habits. If someone put that all together, I am sure there would be plenty of information for your shrink.

So where is the line, and have we already crossed it?

The special person I get to annoy

Posted by random olio

“It’s great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” -Rita Rudner

Oh have I found that one person. Today is my tenth wedding anniversary, and boy have I had the time of my life. For those of you that might have read my blog for the past year and a half, you would not be shocked to hear me ooh and ah about my husband. I have often written about how I am addicted to him, and how our marriage works, but today I can hardly believe that ten years ago we stood on a beach in Hawaii, barefoot in the sand at sunset, just the two of us, starting our life together.

Of course Chris is my special person that I enjoy annoying. Mostly through the times when I (or we) are being silly. I love to get under his skin, as long as it means that at the end of the playful moment I have him laughing or happily rolling his eyes. Without laughter, what is the point?

Christopher, I look forward to the next ten years where we laugh, play, and grow together. You are my favorite person, and the one I love waking up next to each morning, and the one I hope I fall asleep before at night. You are the one I love texting in the middle of the day to find out how your day is going. I love that you laugh at my often made up words, and somehow you still understand me. We push each other to look at life differently each day, and I am honored that I get to spend my life with you.

Here is to another ten years that I get to annoy you. Happy Anniversary!

What do we want people to feel?

Posted by random olio

A video made my weekend. What resonated with me? This idea:

“What do we want people to feel?”

What if we thought about that in everything we do? Yes, Apple designs amazing products. They think about keeping it simple, and if they excel at their design, the user will not be frustrated, they will not even think about the design, almost as though they are just one with the product. That is true for many of us. We do not even think about how often we use it (all the time), where we use it (on the toilet), that some people take it to bed with them (only when Chris is away in case he calls).

What if we took the question a step further? What if you went into a meeting and thought about how you wanted to make people feel? Do you want to make them feel included? Do you want to make them feel heard? Do you want to make them feel passionate? If so, how did you go about making them feel that way? If you come home from work and you think about how you want to make your spouse feel, what do you do? Do you instantly give them a hug and ask about their day or, do you sneak away to the bathroom and hide out? We could probably all think more about how we can make them feel happier, appreciated, and heard.

My favorite part is then near the end:

“Until everything we touch enhances each life it touches.”

The ripple or domino effect of doing good, being creative, of giving back. If ever person we touch impacts another, and another, and yet another. Does that make you want to make others feel good? Watch the video for your Tuesday inspiration!

Thank you, Kurt, for sharing this video from Apple with Chris.

“Do it right the first time.”

Posted by random olio

“Do it right the first time.” My dad ingrained that into me. Whenever we were asked to do something around the house, my dad would inspect our work. If it was done half ass, we would get the: “Do it again” rant, followed by: “Next time, do it right the first time.” Now I think about that all the time at work and in my personal life.

On Friday someone mentioned Father’s Day, and I thought: “Oh right, Father’s Day is Sunday. I guess I should think about that.” On Sunday we did what my dad probably did many, many Sundays: yard work. My dad was a contractor, he fixed, remodeled, and built homes. What that often meant for his family? We were like the cobbler’s kids without shoes, our house was often run down, at least the interior. I remember rips in carpets, a floor infested with termites, a leak in a ceiling in the dining room, walls that needed to be painted, the list goes on. I think my dad was exhausted from fixing other people’s homes. Or, maybe it was too costly to fix the different areas that needed repairs.

You might think, wow, Tami, this is a post about your dad, and Father’s Day was yesterday. You suck as a daughter, but let me tell you, life with a father has its good days and its bad days. While I have many memories of the inside of our home, our yard was my dad (and mom’s) pride and joy. It was always in tip-top shape. My parents worked for hours and hours each week to weed, water, plant flowers, and keep a vegetable garden in the back. They landscaped, arranged rocked, and pruned trees. If you drove by our house, you might think what a nice looking yard, and it was.

Now that I have a yard of my own, I understand how exhausting it is to keep it up, (and I do not have 3 kids to help either). I also know how rewarding it is, to sit outside and enjoy the fruits of the many hours of labor. There is an appreciation for all you have done. I hope my dad felt the same way, and looked at our yard with pride. Looking back I can see how “doing it right the first time” has weaved its way into the inside and outside of my house. I often approach a project with Chris and plan out how we might do something so we do not cut corners and have to do it again. It is not always flawless, but we try.

Last night, Chris and I sat outside with a drink, put our feet up, and admired the landscape. Miss you, Dad.

Hiding behind my book

Posted by random olio

I probably should have known when I was in elementary school that I had a voracious desire to investigate, learn, and make connections. Maybe it started with my passion for Encyclopedia Brown books. I made it my mission to try to solve the case and learn about any nuances before finishing the book. That has fueled me for many years to come. I love learning new things, finding pieces of information that are missing in a story, and piecing together how each aspect is interconnected with another.

Books would suck me in. I could learn about the drama, excitement, and sometimes boredom of someone else’s life. I could try to guess what I think the author would do, and if they did not, what I would do if I was the author. Was that just a thing I did growing up? Recently I read a brilliant memoir by Julia Sweeney (think “It’s Pat” on Saturday Night Live), called: “It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother.” I laughed a lot, and was impressed not only with her life, but the humor that came out in her writing. This quote from her book made me think of my own childhood:

“While I didn’t like most of my classes at school, I did love to read, always imagining myself as the heroine in a story. I thought being Anne Shirley, the spunky orphan in the Anne of Green Gables series, might be less stressful than dealing with my father’s moods. I identified with Frances Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and her loving but turbulent relationship with her head-in-the-clouds father. But my most recent favorite was Are you There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I was positive I’d get my period any day.” page 36

My sister might have actually read the entire Anne of Green Gables series, but since I was her constant tag-a-long I saw all the movies with her. Since I was more of a Barbie girl, then a get lost in the field and dream about Gilbert Blythe, I still related to the cantankerous attitude of the sassy red-head. There were times when I would think living in that era would be much easier than my own childhood, or joining the group of girls in The Babysitter’s Club would make all my worries go away.

Just as I would hide under the covers with a flashlight so I could stay up reading, or sneak away to another part of the house to try to get out of chores, books were my solace, comfort, and adventure. Whether I hid behind my book, or let my book launch me into the world of detectives, popularity, or the lust of Gilbert Blythe, I was and will always be transformed by those words on the page.