This is how I spent my past weekend…

I am shooting a short film with a friend of mine and my wife for us to show our children and grandchildren when we are crippled from our adrenaline inspired youth. 

This is a clip I took at Beaver Creek Ski Resort this past Saturday.  It was filmed in the Stone Creek Chutes.  The drop is greater than 25 feet.  He dropped a 40 foot face later this weekend when we went hiking in the backcountry.  That shot will be featured in the film.

Click here if you cannot see the video below: Beaver Creek, Colorado

Check it out and then stop back this spring to see the entire film.  

During the warm summer months my close friend and I enjoy wakeboarding on a small private lake. 

Two years ago, the lake had a modest 40+ foot rail-slide set up for the wakeboarders who wanted to use it.  It was constructed of wood 4X4’s and was securely installed into the lakebed.  However, this structure was easily defeated by the brutal winter we experienced in 2006/2007.  As the spring thaw broke up the ice, the rail was reduced to mere splinters and small portions still lie along the shoreline to this day. 

[Rail-slide: A trick adopted from skateboarding where the wakeboarder slides the bottom of the board (base) along an object, typically a metal pipe or wooden beam.]

Since my friend, myself, and only a handful of others used the rail-slide, the lake owners did not want to spend the resources to build another one and called upon us to create and install a new rail.  My phone rang soon after…

“Hello?” I answered

        “Hey, you want to help build a new rail for the lake this year? The old one was destroyed and, if we want one, we have to build it.” questioned my friend.

“Sure what do you have in mind?” I replied

        “I have already gotten started on it.  Just come over after work and I will show you the specs.” He said

“Yep, see you then. Late.” I closed

What I was not prepared for was the sheer size of the beast my friend had in mind.  I should have known better.  Anything he does is always big, and a major adventure.  And, really, I am not certain I can emphasize adventure enough.

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Everyone has their list of favorite things that have impacted them in the past year - Including me. 

BEST OF 2007

• Movie - Tie: Pirates of the Carribean and Transformers
• Snowboard - Ride Society
• Timepiece - Movado Valor
• Book - Your Best Life Now - joel osteen
• TV Show - Planet Earth
• Collectibles - US Mint 2007 Quarter Set
• WakeBoard - Liquid Force Substance
• Boat - Mastercraft x-30
• Leadership Mentoring Tools - Maximum Impact
• Mental Toys - Rubik’s Cube
• Group Game - Things
• Ski Resort - Beaver Creek, Colorado
• Relaxing Spot - iJoy Massage Chair 

What are yours?

Today I have enjoyed my last cup of coffee, for the time being anyway.  Don’t get me wrong, I love coffee.  Not necessarily for the caffeine boost it provides, but more so from the comfort.  I enjoy drinking a warm cup of good java while working throughout the day.  The problem is: I drink way, way, way too much coffee.  And therefore I have decided to try a little experiment.

I am going to test my theory that coffee has been causing some issues with myself.  Could it possibly be linked to my problems? By the end of this experiment I will have an answer. I am giving up coffee for a minimum of one month, but if my hypothesis proves to be true (and all past tests have proven it to be true) I will be giving it up permanently. 

Over the past eight years I have drank coffee religiously each day.  However, I have noticed very subtle changes in my body and mind that I have compiled into this list:

• Tenseness in my jaw
• Tenderness under my eyes
• Tenderness in my eyebrows
• Twittery eyes
• Lockjaw at night when I sleep.
• Lack of a good night sleep
• Lack of dreams
• Drowsiness upon waking
• Complete lethargy around 3:30pm - 5pm.
• Headaches
• Tension in the back of neck
• Lack of focus at times - especially during high doses of coffee
• Tenderness of scalp

Now proponents of coffee would tell me I am crazy.  And, “that there are so many other things that cause these”:

• Staring at the computer for uncomprehendable hours
• Stress from work deadlines
• Lack of exercise
• Poor nutrition
• The list can go on for awhile

And, many times, I would agree with them - if it were not for complete relief from all said ailments when I have quit in the past for short durations. 

“So why am I telling you?” you ask. 

“I am not your doctor.” you say.  

Well, I am using you to help keep me honest.  In the past, I have attempted to quit drinking coffee only to return to it because there is constantly a fresh cup brewing in the breakroom and the fragrance slowly seeps out and across my desk.  Almost begging me to drink it - at least that is how I justify it.  The other reason may be that I get up everyday at 4:30 and coffee just seems to help me settle into the days tasks.  

So, as I write this post I am saying “goodbye” to the final sips of glorious java in my cup and saying “hello” to relief. 

So what do you think?  Is there a coffee connection?

I’ll keep you up to date on the progress.  Have a great day.

I have spent the past month researching and working on how I wanted to present my Author Bio on my website.  At first I began reading every “How To” article written on Writing a Good Professional Personal Bio.  I did not like any suggestion I read.  They all said, “never to write your own Bio because you are too close to the situation” or “Write it in the third person, if you must write it yourself”.  I disagree. Bios written in these ways seem trite and boring to me.

My next line of execution was to research how other Authors, CEO’s, Top Executives, Comedians, and anyone else who had a personal bio online handled it.  Maybe, by using this tactic, I could find inspiration for my own bio.  While I did find a lot of inspiration, I also noticed a trend, and began to observe how different generations presented themselves to the public.  I found it rather interesting.

Personal Bios from the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation tended to have very concise biographies which presented a long list of accomplishments, awards, professional associations, degrees, and other rather impersonal qualifications.  With each one I read a picture was painted of how powerful, intelligent, and potentially deserving the person was of such a high position.  For them, these classifications distinguish them from the rest of society and provide them with a sense of entitlement.  However, rarely do these accolades paint a picture into the inner personality of who they are and left me feeling disconnected from the individual. 

By contrast, I found the bios I read for members of the ‘Generation- Y’ class to be very light and personal.  Sometimes they included their own list of qualifications -sometimes not.  But the trend behind the ‘Generation-Y’ group was that they always clearly painted a picture into the personality of the person.  (Sometimes revealing a little too much.)  What they hoped to accomplish was to put themselves out there - Flaws and All - in hopes of just being accepted for who they ‘are’ rather than ‘what’ they accomplished. 

So the question now is: What direction should you take to present yourself in a professional setting?  I  am not a ‘Baby Boomer’, nor do I fall into the ‘Generation-Y’ category.  So - what direction did I go with my bio?  Well, you will just have to read it for yourself on my Author Bio page.

“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”  - Robert Orben

I love vacation!  One week of relaxation and fun in the sun.  A short time to forget about all of the day-to-day stresses and worries that can plague you back in the real world. 

Have you ever noticed that what you really need a vacation from is the week prior to vacation?  That is the week that you are trying to finish all of your activities normally planned for the next week, you know the one during which you will be on vacation.  Not only do most of us have 40+ hours a week spent at a monotonous job, but we are hit with overtime as we run around like Sonic the Hedgehog attempting to complete all the additional tasks. 

Well, after 10 days at my family’s summer home on a lake in Central Missouri I am ready to tackle the working world again.  This year was especially exciting for me since it was the first time my, now 8-month-old, daughter would visit my childhood hang out, the “Zarks”, as I so fondly call them.  I can still remember this moment: When I was two, we were preparing for the long drive home after spending the summer splashing and playing in the water and as we loaded into the car, I firmly planted my butt on the front porch and proclaimed to my parents, “I Don’t Want to Leave the Zarks!”  I was hoping my daughter would follow in my footsteps this year and tell me the same, but rather she just stuck her toungue out and gave me a cool saliva shower. Oh well, maybe next year.

This vacation was special in that I shared with my daughter my favorite place in the world, other than the top of a mountain in a blaring snowstorm and 3 feet of fresh powder between me and the base of the mountain, and she seems to share the same passion for it as her mother and I.  I look forward to taking her back again as she grows.

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:  A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Tris-Kaide-Ka-Phobia, say that five times fast. 

I have never really understood the whole concept of Friday the 13th.  Maybe it is because I have never been superstitious. (Well there was this one time in high school…never mind) I mean, really, what is it that gets us all wound up and nervous about just another day.  Is there a verifiable need to fear this day?  In lue of my curiosity, I have done a little investigation on the topic, The following are my findings:

• A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English, German, Polish and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe. Similar superstitions exist in some other traditions. In Greece or Spain, for example, Tuesday the 13th takes the same role.
• The first documented mention of a “Friday the 13th” is generally listed as occurring in the early 1900’s
• The catastrophe was the decimation of the Knights Templar, the legendary order of “warrior monks” formed during the Christian Crusades to combat Islam, by King Philip IV on October 13, 1307.
• The day has been associated with the term black Friday.

Source: Wikipedia
So in conclusion: What makes Friday the 13th such a feared day?  I am still lost.