“Wow! You have a great voice! You should be on the radio!”

In my current gig most of my meetings are held via conference call or via WebEx.  Many of my initial conversations go something like this:

ME:  Thank you for calling Cisco.  This is Brian Taylor.  How may we help you?

PERSON I’VE NEVER SPOKEN WITH BEFORE:  (brief pause) Hello?

ME:  Hi, this is Brian.  How are you?

PERSON:  Wow!  You sounded so professional/you sounded just like a recording/you have a great voice!  You should be on the radio/you should do voice work/you should be an announcer!

ME:  Well, thank you.  Old radio habits die hard.

PERSON:  I knew it!

Occasionally I will get asked the following question:

PERSON:  So, why aren’t you working in radio?

ME:  I love what I am doing now and I always have the option of going back in to radio if the right opportunity comes along.

That ‘right opportunity’ has not come along yet.  When (not if) I get back in to radio, it will be on my own terms.  Ideally I will buy a block of time on a station, host my own show, and cover my hard costs with sponsors I know personally or that I know will be a great fit for the type of audience I am targeting.

Every once in a great while someone will ask me why I got in to radio in the first place.  It seems, s/he says, that I am wasting my talent by not being on the air.  It’s a fair question that deserves a fair answer.  Let’s see how well I do…

As far back as I can remember people have told me that I have a nice/good/great speaking voice.  In elementary school I was often picked to read aloud to the class.  In high school I was often picked to do some type of role play that involved speaking to the class.

Two years after graduating from high school I decided to follow my dream of working in the radio industry.  I enrolled in a seven-month course at the long-ago-defunct American Technical Center and dove headfirst into the radio business.  I was lucky enough to get my first radio gig just before I graduated.  I was also confronted head-on with the realities of what I was getting in to.  I learned very quickly that if I wanted to make radio my career I was going to have to move A LOT to build my “experience level”.  This fact, coupled with the fact that I had moved around A LOT as a kid, caused me to think really hard about what I should do.  I wanted a level of stability for my family that I never had.  What really did it for me was having my paychecks from the station bounce one too many times.  While it was hard to leave it was better than putting my family through the rigors of a gypsy-like lifestyle.

I have worked in radio twice since my first gig in radio.  All the details can be found here.  My radio experience also gave me the chance to have the best gig I have ever had and has allowed me to continue to speak with audiences of all sizes and backgrounds.

The only thing I miss about being behind the mic is the connection I had with the audience.  It takes both talent AND many thousands of hours of try-and-fail effort to learn how to have a conversation with an audience of a gazillion people and have each one of them feel as if you are speaking with just them, one-on-one, no one else on the planet but the two of you.  By the way, if you still feel this connection with your favorite radio person(s), please let them know.  Radio is changing just like everything else and your favorite radio person(s) may be gone before your know it.

For now, I will love radio from afar.  As things change in my life I look forward to the day when I can sit in the hot seat, have my producer queue up the callers, bumpers, and spots, and watch the ON AIR light turn on as I hit the mic button.

 

Joe Lee – 1920-2009

Mr. Joe Lee. Photo copyright Michael Brandy, Deseret News

I learned today that a radio icon from my youth passed away last week.  Mr. Joe Lee, ‘the voice’ of KCPX radio news, passed away at the age of 88.  I invite you to read more about his life here and here.  His obituary is here.

I have written about Mr. Lee and his colleagues in AM radio here.  Now that I am grown up, I have realized something…there was and is only one Joe Lee.

I will now dim the “ON AIR” light above the studio door for just a moment to honor the passing of a gentleman and a broadcaster extraordinaire…

 

43

Today is my 43rd birthday.  I never thought I would live to be this old.  Seems a crazy statement, yet it is the first thing that crosses my mind when I think about my age.  I recall that a much younger me thought that if I lived to be 40 I would have ‘made it’.  That much younger me could not see beyond 40.  I had older grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the like, yet they seemed to be so very old that I could not understand what it was like to be them.  Now, on this day, I do have some measure of what it is like to be close to their ages.

It is my desire to chronicle the events of this day as the unfold.  Thus, I will make updates to this post as time and opportunity warrants.

UPDATE: 6:50 a.m. – just over an hour from now my father is taking me to breakfast.  My father is a good man.  He and I are very much alike in some ways and very different in others.  The moments I get to spend with him are most precious to me.  It is a grand thing when you are in the company of someone who understands you and whom you understand completely.

UPDATE: 10:25 a.m. – a good breakfast and a great conversation.  My dad and I discussed philosophy, politics, religion, science, art, humor…it was such fun.  He dropped me off at my house and gave me my birthday gift (more on that later).  Time to change into some work duds and spruce up the outside and inside of my humble abode.

UPDATE: 4:56 p.m. – the house and yard are presentable (finally).  I am now waiting for all my kin and friends to arrive.

UPDATE: 9:32 p.m. – all of the guests have gone and yet the laughter, the conversation, and the love echo throughout the house.  I had a GREAT birthday party!  All of my immediate family was there and a few friends stopped by as well.  Our pot luck dinner was a feast fit for royalty.  Instead of having a traditional birthday cake with ice cream on the side, I decided to have cupcakes and ice cream cones.  I think the adults may have enjoyed the cupcakes and cones more than the kids.  The gifts I received were heart-felt, funny, and useful.  It was a birthday celebration I shall not soon forget.

 

W-A-Double-R-I-O-R-S! W-A-Double-R-I-O-R-S!

25 years ago this month, I started my senior year at Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Utah.  I remember the excitement I felt as I went to that first week of classes.  I was in my final year of high school.  I would be leaving home after graduation to start my own life.  I would soon be off to college playing my trumpet in a marching band.  I would have my own responsibilities and would no longer have to worry about what was going on at home.  It was my time.  It was my moment.  It was the ending of one life and the beginning of another. 

When I graduated in June of 1985, it was truly the ending of one life and the beginning of another.  College was not going to happen – not because of grades, but because of need.  My family situation required that I work to help support the family.  I did my graduation walk on a Friday and went to work full-time the very next Monday.  No celebration with friends, no downtime to decide what I wanted to do, nothing special at all.  It was simply a time for me to put away the fun of my youth and go to work. 

In the 25 years since graduation, I have lived a remarkable and full life.  I met the girl of my dreams at Disneyland (that is a story for another day).  She and I got married and started our lives together.  We had two children – a beautiful daughter who will turn 22 next year and a wonderful son whose life on this Earth was very brief and filled with both incredible joy and unimaginable pain.  There were times where we lived on our own and where we lived in the same home with relatives.  We helped two of the most incredible people I have ever met live out the remainder of their lives with dignity and love.  We’ve lived through Wyoming winters, California summers, a water line break that flooded both the upstairs and downstairs of one house, found pets, lost pets, different jobs, medical emergencies, and both good and bad financial situations.  We are still together and still love each other.  We beat the odds then and are beating them now. 

I have experienced a few other moments since graduating high school that deserve special mention.  I did go back to school and earn my bachelors degree.  I did fulfill my dream of working in the radio broadcasting industry as an on-air announcer (disk jockey if you like).  I worked for one season at an amusement park and had more fun than I ever imagined I could.  I went to COMDEX in November of 1996 and it changed my life – I have worked in the Information Technology industry ever since.   

All of these life experiences began when I graduated from Taylorsville High School.  Going to THS is a time in my life that I absolutely cherish.  I look back on it now and realize just how much fun I had as a senior.  I was a band geek and am proud to say it.  I had three instrumental music teachers in the three years I went to Taylorsville High.  To Mr. Crump (Mr. C), Mr. Zambrano (Mr. Z), and Mr. Jensen (Doc), I respectfully tip my hat to each of you. 

I also remember the good friends I had back then, some of which I had known as far back as elementary school.  I have reconnected with many of them via social media.  There is something most comforting about knowing that the friends you ran around the playground with are still there these many years later.  I have also reconnected with many of my fellow band and orchestra friends.  Some are still playing their instruments, some haven’t touched them in years.  We all remember playing together and creating music.  It was our time.  It was our moment.  Such is the power of friendship and memory. 

To you, my fellow alums of Taylorsville High School, I salute you.  I am glad that I got to know you and to call you friend.  I look forward to the official reunion and catching up with each of you. 

I also look forward to the next 25 years.  This is my time.  This is my moment.  I can now do, have, or be anything I wish (kudos to Tony Robbins for these magical words).  After all, I’m a Warrior from Taylorsville High.

 

WGU – A Smarter Way to Learn

Here is the latest commercial from Western Governors University:

 

What the 40th Anniversary of Man Landing on the Moon Means to Me

As I began to type this post, I ran into an unforeseen problem.  With all of the emotions I experienced over the past week I could not settle on a suitable title.  It wasn’t until I read Phil Plait’s post on what Apollo means to him that the title came to me.  Thank you, Phil, for your great post and for inspiring the title of this post.

I was 2 and 1/2 when Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Canaveral and sent Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the Moon.  I confess that I have no real memory of watching this event unfold on television (my mother told me that I watched the landing and that I was “glued to the TV”).  I also do not have firm memories of the additional five Apollo missions to the Moon.  For those of you lucky enough to have witnessed the event, I am both envious and in awe of you.

I have some vague recollections of the Skylab missions and Apollo-Soyuz mission.  I was still quite young and the space bug had not really bitten yet.

When the Space Shuttle program came along in the late 70s and early 80s, that’s when I really started noticing how much I was drawn to the space program.  I saw one of the space shuttles flying piggyback on a 747 as it flew over Salt Lake City (I am uncertain if it was Enterprise or Columbia).  I still get so fired up every time I see one of the space shuttles blast off.  I find myself yelling “GO! GO! GO!”, which my wife finds most annoying for some strange reason.  I also remember when Challenger exploded and when Columbia disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere.  I am hopeful that such disasters will not happen again.

Among the many outer space-inspired science fiction movies, books, television programs, and planetarium shows I enjoyed whilst growing up , one television series stand out far above all others.  The PBS series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”, presented by the late Dr. Carl Sagan, was the most imaginative and informative program on space that I had ever watched.  The imagery was superb.  The music was unlike anything I had ever heard before – and it fit perfectly.  What I really enjoyed is listening to Dr. Sagan explained the cosmos.  He was compelling.  He was engaging.  He could tell the story of the cosmos in a way that made you feel at once that you were a part of something grand.  Thank you, Dr. Sagan.  The little boy in me that loves the stars so much is glad that you were among his teachers.

Here is what the 40th anniversary of Man landing on the Moon means to me.

I have grown up in a time when the impossible was accomplished.  Men and women from all walks of life gathered together in a unique tribe – a tribe that took the challenge of President Kennedy and made it happen.  From tiny steps to a giant leap for Mankind, Humanity traveled over 250,000 miles to set foot on the Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor and traveled over 250,000 back to Earth.  The science, mathematics, engineering, and sheer force of will that it took to accomplish this feat not just once but six times is gargantuan in scope and humbling in its ramifications. There were uncounted failures that lead the way to profound successes.  The natural laws that govern the mechanics of the universe were challenged by the pioneering spirit of the explorers who dared to go farther and faster than had ever been done before.

Can we, the benefactors of the space program, gather together the passion, the commitment, the intelligence, and the raw nerve to go back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond?  I believe that we can and that we will. Can we also take all of the above and eliminate hunger, eradicate disease, and create a better world in which to live?  I don’t know.  We once thought going to the Moon was impossible.  Maybe, just maybe, we can do the impossible again.

 

Rediscovering my Inner Astronomer

This past Monday evening I spent close to two hours gazing at the night sky.  I was aided in this adventure by a pair of binoculars and my Orion StarBlast telescope (a gift from my wife and daughter two Christmases ago).

The sky was clear of clouds but was hazy from all the dust the winds had kicked up earlier in the day.  The glow from the city lights was amplified by the haze.  Still, I could clearly see the brightest stars and the familiar constellations they created.

Once I set up my gear, I let my eyes acclimate to the night.  I used my binoculars to scan the skies for satellites.  I saw two within a short time (a third crossed my field of view while looking through my telescope).  I also witnessed two shooting stars.  The first was brief and faded quickly, the other went across the whole of the sky, flashing with brilliant light as it skipped across the atmosphere (it reminded me of the scene from Howl’s Moving Castle when Howl is standing in a field while shooting stars fall all around him).

I then began to look at the heavens with my telescope.  I looked first at Saturn.  The rings of the planet were just about edge-on and I could see its largest moon, Titan, as a small white dot to the right of the planet.  I get a kick out of watching people look at Saturn through a telescope – they are so surprised to see that it really does have rings!

I then turned my light bucket to look at some of the brightest stars in the summer sky…Arcturus (in Boötes), Antares (in Scorpius), Altair (in Aquila), and Vega (in Lyra).  I also looked at Albireo (in Cygnus), which is a beautiful double star  (one is yellow, the other blue).  I was very happy with the way my lil’ ol’ telescope was performing.  The stars were focusing down to pinpoints of light and the tube held up well to the occasional gust of wind.

I decided to wrap up my evening by testing both my optical limits and the limits of the telescope under less-than-ideal viewing conditions.  I began a search for the Ring Nebula (in Lyra).  It took me about 10 minutes of searching to find it as my telescope is the point-and-look type (no fancy-schmancy computer or axis drives on this small telescope).  I was scanning slowly across the skies when I found it – a faint, wispy circle that I knew immediately to be the Ring Nebula.  I let out a subdued cheer as I was in my backyard and didn’t want to freak out the neighbors.  As I looked at this wondrous site it occurred to me that the first time I saw this nebula through a telescope that I owned was over 25 years ago.  It was still there as if it had just been hanging out in the sky waiting for me to find it again.  I kept looking at it, switching from one eye to the other, making sure that I saw every possible photon of light that this nebula was sending out.  I was thrilled to find it and to find out what my telescope could bring to my eyes even with haze, light, and the occasional mosquito zipping about.

As I gathered up my things and headed back into the house, I found myself reflecting on how much I missed looking at the stars.  As a young boy and into my teenaged years I would spend many nights observing the stars with a telescope similar to the one I have now.  Afer I was married and my life situation changed I took my telescope outside less and less.  During one of our moves my telescope was stolen out of our storage unit.  I was quite upset but unable to do anything about it.  It would be over 15 years later when I would have my own telescope again thanks to my wife and daughter (I wondered what was in the BIG box next to the Christmas tree).

If you cannot remember the last time you looked up at the night sky, take a few moments tonight (weather permitting, of course) to reacquaint yourself with some old friends.  They are still there and are happy to remind you of a time in your life when you looked at the skies with wonder and amazement.

 

A Third Letter to The Recession

Greetings to you, my old friend…

It seems it was just yesterday that you unceremoniously appeared in my life.  Your arrival was not entirely unexpected given the unique circumstances from which you arose from the ash heap of history.  However your atrophied essence managed to ingress my universe was irrelevant as the obliteration you caused was done.

Perhaps you thought me crushed as well.  Perhaps you thought me no more of an annoyance than the merest of insects flitting about your personage during the cooling hours of a warm summer evening.  Perhaps you gave me no second thought as you rumbled away from me, confident in your delusion that you had erased me from existence.

My first letter to you proved how wrong you were.

A few months after I had joined my fellow adventurers in the Land of the Unemployed, you came back toward me with renewed vigor as though you were personally incensed that I had not been atomized the first time around.  In addition to your laughable attempts to diminish me, you moved to overwhelm family and friends with your smothering, relentless hatred of all who are optimistic, brave, and unblinking as they stared you down.  While you may have inflicted some temporary pain in their lives, these good souls stood their ground.  As you piled your rocks of sorrow, despair, and darkness upon them they smiled widely and said ”MORE WEIGHT!”  You failed to defeat them.  You failed to defeat me.  And you left again, convinced that this time you had put down the rebellion once and for all.

I wrote a second letter to you, again proving how wrong you were.

Do you still believe that you can prevail against me?

Please allow me, my old friend, to move from the realm of words to the realm of numbers for just a moment.  I am certain that you will find it most exhilarating…

156

This is the number of calendar days (counting today) since you unwelcome intrusion into my life.

91

This is the number of unique positions I have applied for in the last 156 days.

22

This is the number of replies I received back from companies stating that they had some initial interest in me and wanted to talk further.

12

This is the number of interviews I have gone through.

20

This is the combined number of “rejection letter” e-mails (9), companies I have never heard back from (7), and “we gave the offer to the other candidate” e-mails (4).

1

This is the number of companies that have presented me with an offer letter.  Two companies have told me that I was their number one candidate; only one has put their intentions into a letter saying, “Yep, you’re the person we want!”

I am happy to report that I have accepted the letter and will begin my next adventure at the beginning of July.  I am not yet at liberty to say the name of the company I am joining.  Doesn’t that just make you livid, o friend recession?

You had 156 days to grind my soul into powder.

You had 156 unique moments to smash my hopes and dreams and guffaw whilst you did it.

You had 156 opportunities to elucidate why I should become your foremost champion.

You had 156 chances to bet against me.

I had 156 days to give it everything I had in finding a new adventure to join.

I had 156 unique moments to say “Damn you, Recession! Try and defeat me, if you can!”

I had 156 opportunities to re-engineer my approach every time I hit a roadblock.

I had 156 chances to engage a new company and determine if there was mutual grounds for they and I to work together.

You lost.  I won.

You tried.  I tried harder.

You attacked without mercy.  I used your own mindless aggression against you.

You laughed when my frustrations temporarily overwhelmed me.  I quietly smiled when my persistence overwhelmed your cunning.

You thought you had the iron to stand against me.  I proved that you have no iron whatsoever.

Go.  Trouble me no more, o abominable friend.

Should you one day decide to come back, I remain eager to test you.

And I will win.  Again.

BT

 

The WGU Bunko Breakfast in Salt Lake City

There were nine of us seated at the table – Jim, Susan, Justin, Mengyin, Liz, Shawn, Andrew, Dan B., and yours truly. Sandra and Jen were the dynamic duo that created a video recording of the event (I will post a link to the video once it is posted). My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you. Your participation made the event a great success!

In addition, the Alumni Advisory Board of WGU would like to publically thank Dan Pink for allowing us to convene a Bunko Breakfast and for joining us via Skype.

On a personal note…Dan, it was an honor to share your message with my colleagues. Domo arigato, Daniel-san!

I also wish to extend a very special “Thank you!” to the staff at Lamb’s Grill for their hospitality, the cheerfulness, and their mighty-good breakfast.

Now, on with the show…

1. There is no plan.

We had quite a chat about how those of us who are “older” received the same advice from our parents that Johnny received from his – graduate from high school, go to college, get your degree, and start your career. “You need to follow the plan,” they said. Some of us in attendance did our best to “follow the plan” and were utterly baffled when things didn’t work out exactly as we mapped them. Others were given different (perhaps better) advice that went something like this:

 “You know what you want to do with your life and that’s great. You probably won’t get there overnight and you may not get there at all. It will serve you better if you are flexible in how you get to you goal. You will learn a lot along the way that you may not think is relevant now but may be of great benefit to you down the road. Remember, keep your goals in sight and stay flexible in your approach to reaching them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Think strengths, not weaknesses.

We discussed how working with a business leader who leads his/her team based on the strengths of the team members creates a work environment that is enjoyable, is open to the tack-and-jibe of life, and actually gets more work done on a consistent basis (shades of a ROWE?) In addition, we talked about work situations we have all experienced in which the focus was on weaknesses instead of strengths and how demoralizing/defeating that kind of environment was.

3. It’s not about you.

When we started talking about this career lesson, Dan B. told us about how he had recently become involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He told us that becoming a Big Brother gave him a new perspective on what is really important in his life. This lead to a discussion on what it means to be a part of a company/team/family that champions the notion “it’s not about me, it’s about we”. We also touched on how to deal with people who are convinced “it’s all about them” (Bob Sutton has some very interesting things to say on this subject).

4. Persistence trumps talent.

As we started discussing this career lesson, we soon discovered that many of us had been in situations where we were not the most talented person on a team but we were the ones that kept at it long after the “most talented” person(s) either gave up or moved on to other things.  Liz shared a story with us about how she persisted at becoming a better writer while working with other writers who allegedly had more “talent” than she did.  Her doggedness opened doors for her and eventually lead to her covering events at the 2002 Winter Olympics. 

As a graduate of WGU I have a special appreciation for students who persist through class work that may not play to their talents. I was there many times and used my support system (my WGU mentors, my family, and my friends) to keep on keeping on.

A side note: I have met people in my wanderings that have massive talent but zero persistence. I used to think “If I had just one ounce of the talent so-and-so had I’d be the best in the business!” Now, I think “I really don’t care how much natural talent you have. If you and I have the same level of persistence and your talent is better than mine, you deserve to get the gig. However, if my level of persistence is far greater than yours (and trust me, IT IS), I will consistently get more/bigger/better gigs than you ever will.”

 5. Make excellent mistakes.

We talked about the value (and the pain) that comes from making great-big-ugly-what-were-you-thinking mistakes. We also discussed how to handle the affects of such mistakes – do you crawl away, give up, and never try again? Or do you ask yourself “What can I learn from this super-sized-screw-up?”

6. Leave an imprint.

We all acknowledged that we tend to get so busy with living that we forget to make a life for ourselves. Making that life also includes making a profound difference in the lives around you. The old saw about stopping to smell the roses is still valid – the best way to do that is to take the time to plant some roses in the first place. As they grow and become part of the landscape people will remember you and benefit from your good work long after you are no more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Stay hungry.

I asked Dan to share with the group the story behind how the seventh lesson was chosen. We then talked about how being comfortable is a very short step away from being complacent. Example: if an active student at WGU is progressing better than s/he anticipated and decides to coast for a bit, s/he risks becoming complacent and bringing his/her momentum to a grinding halt. That is bad enough on its own; what is worse is the climb back from dead stop to overcoming complacency to getting the flywheel spinning at the same speed again.

Our Conversation with Dan Pink

Through the magic of Skype, we had the grand fortune of interacting with Dan for about 30 minutes. We shared our thoughts with him regarding the seven lessons, the format of the book (Susan wanted to know why the pages turn from right-to-left instead of left-to-right as is done in traditional manga – he explained that his publisher made the decision to print the book that way so that more people would be comfortable reading it), and where Johnny got his last name (it is a play on the word “bunkobon“, a type of paperback book format popular in Japan). He also recommended two books that correlate to the fourth career lesson – Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin.

To everyone that participated in this event, I thank you once again. It was a joy and a privilege to be a part of the conversation.

 

The 2009 Tour of the 48 Hour Film Project is Headed to Salt Lake City

“Now, I suppose you’re all wondering just what in the heck you’re doing out here in the middle of a prairie in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.” – Bart, Sheriff of Rock Ridge, Blazing Saddles

In less than 30 days, the 2009 tour of the 48 Hour Film Project will take place in Salt Lake City.  This will be the third time that I have participated in this event.  I am also working with many of the producers, directors, crew, and cast from our 2008 team.  It’s good to see them all again!

Our team is very fortunate in that we are working with…oops, I almost gave it away.  Can’t let the cat outta the bag, y’know.

As we get closer to the event, I will let you know more about what our team is up to.  In the meantime, I have a bit of advice for anyone involved in casting a 48 HFP film…

If you judge a book by its cover, you will miss talent you never knew existed.

 

A Follow-up Letter to The Recession

Hail and Greetings, My Friend Recession…

I need not ask how life finds you.  Your presence is announced with boisterous fanfare by cavalcades of devotees eager to broadcast your fetid tidings from moor to hollow. 

As for me, I am compelled to state that today my iron was severely tested when I learned of your effects on certain members of my family and friends.  Your plagues of cynicism, sorrow, angst, and the like have vigorously jostled those whom I care deeply for, causing them to become crestfallen and dejected.  I perceive that such results leave you enthralled if not saturated with giddiness and glee. 

Perhaps you carry the conviction that you will in some manner cause me to relinquish my cheeriness if you are able to obliterate the successes of my brothers and sisters.  It may be that you rationalize your zeal for unchecked injury to my fellow mortals as your way of bending my iron so that you can grasp some minute control over my energies and eventually render me useless. 

While I acknowledge that your ability to inflict pain amongst my family and friends does enrage me without measure, it also causes the iron in me to become more refined, more aligned, more able to withstand your fiendish plays against me and mine.  The very thing that you believe will weaken me will make me profoundly stronger.  The more you persist, the more anchored my resolve becomes.  Bring on your worst, and I will deflect your measly attempts with my best!

I am still here, my good friend.

I am still standing.

I am still laughing at you.

I am still eager to test you.

I am still the victor.

I am retribution.

I look forward to erasing you from existence. 

Very truly yours,

Brian Taylor

 

A Bunko Breakfast for WGU Students and Alumni

I can hear the chopsticks breaking now.

On Saturday, April 25th, I am hosting/moderating a Bunko Breakfast for students and alumni of Western Governors University living in the great state of Utah.  The event will be held at Lamb’s Grill Cafe from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  Students and alumni of WGU can register for the event here.

You may be asking yourself, “What the heck is a Bunko Breakfast?”

The term “Bunko Breakfast” comes from a series of fun, lively breakfast meetings originated and hosted by Dan Pink, author of “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need”. 

Here is the link to the official Johnny Bunko web site:

http://www.johnnybunko.com/

If you haven’t read the book yet, here’s a sample of what awaits you…

Soon after Dan began hosting the Bunko Breakfasts, people who had read his book began hosting their own DIY Bunko Breakfast meetings in such places as Australia, Canada, and Japan.  I think that this type of event will be a great way for local WGU students and alumni to get to know each other a bit better.  As we share our WGU stories with each other we can also have a spirited discussion on the six lessons that Johnny and his pals learned from the wildest ‘career advisor’ they have ever met!

I will create both a podcast and a video of the event and will post links to this media once they are ready for broadcast. 

A very special “thank you” to Dan for allowing me share his book’s message with my fellow students and alumni.

 

Paul Harvey – 1918-2009

When I worked at KSIT, one of the features of my morning show was the broadcast of Paul Harvey.  I would record his early-morning off-air network feed on the small reel-to-reel tape deck that sat on a shelf above the turntables and play it back later in the morning at 8:45 a.m.

It would be easy to say that he became part of my morning show.  However, I believe that I became a part of his morning show.

For the 15 minutes that his broadcast aired, none of the local news, advertisements, contests, or other such things we broadcast mattered.  All of us were in Mr. Harvey’s world.  We wanted to know “the rest of the story”.  We wanted to listen to his unique cadence as he told us of news from around the world.  We wanted to feel uplifted as he closed his broadcast with “Good day!”  We wanted to hear the wisdom of a man who was born at the dawn of the radio broadcast industry and spoke to us through over 50 years of changes in that industry and the world at large.  We wanted to know that no matter where we went, what we did for a living, or how old we became, Mr. Harvey would be there to tell us what we needed to know even if it was not what we wanted to hear.

Thank you, Mr. Harvey, for allowing me to be a part of your morning show.

 

An Open Letter to The Recession

I was inspired to write the following letter after reading this post. (Be ye warned: by following this link, you are going to run in to an f-bomb.  For the record, the author of the post did not put it there – it is part of a graphic included in the post.)

If anyone needs me, I’ll be at recess.

——————————————————————————————————————————————–

My Dear Recession,

I, your humble and obedient servant, am emboldened to take up my digital pen and scribe for you a heartfelt “thank you” for coming in to my life. 

Lest you think I do this in jest, please allow me to elucidate my feelings for you.

I will start by thanking you for giving me the chance to reexamine my work/life options.  As you well know, my current position is going away in the very near future, thus giving me an extraordinary opportunity to shake off the complacency I have reveled in for far too long.  Security, as you have so often demonstrated, is but an illusion.  The knowledge that the future is momentarily uncertain attacks my senses like the sharp, bitter cold of a mid-winter’s night.  Only you could evoke such fervor from a wretch like me. 

I also wish to express my pleasure at the roller-coaster ride of emotions you have set me on.  After the wondrous-yet-unnerving shock of your presence had subsided, I found myself first cursing you then later blessing your for upending my life.  Your unpredictable nature, coupled with the verbal/written/visual onslaught of your unquestioning devotees, has produced a bombastic effect on my soul.  I find that now, even after the emotional bedlam you have put me through, my resolution to conquer you remains absolute.  Only you could inspire me to such greatness. 

I must also thank you for allowing some of the most noble, creative, funny, and genuinely good-hearted people to come in to my life.  You see, your conviction to catapult me out of my comforts and into the abyss has lead me to have profound conversations with people of such great character that you could not comprehend it in ten lifetimes.  The ladies and gentlemen I have encountered in my recent travels are astounding.   Their warmth, their courage, and their brilliance have replenished the well of my soul.  I awake from my slumber each day with renewed passion and enthusiasm, knowing that at some near-future moment I will be counted among these giants of humanity as they welcome me in to their tribe. 

In bringing my saga to a close, let me share with you my admiration for your followers.  In my finite years on this planet, I have not witnessed such a ravenous worship than that which your patrons have for you.  They place you high on a pedestal whilst wailing out a soul-searing chorus that claims you are the reason that life is so unjustly unfair.  I know of their defeat.  I know of their fear.  And I am elated to know that I will never join their throng. 

I am better than you, o mischievous recession!  In spite of all of your trickery, I have won the battle before you have fired the first shot.  Your minions are no match against my conviction, passion, and eagerness to live life out loud. 

Might I stumble on occasion?  Might I have moments of despair?  Might I be temporarily overwhelmed by my circumstances?  My answer is an unwavering “Yes!”  I recognize that these events are fleeting.  I laugh at your feeble attempts to injure me.  I relish the combat of the arena.  If you believe that you have the iron to stand against me, I am eager to test you. 

Thank you, my friend, for bringing out the very best in me.  I wish you a swift and ignominious demise. 

Kindest personal regards,

Brian Taylor

 

A New Year and a Second Anniversary

Happy 2009!  May this year bring you an abundance of health, wealth, and luck. 

Today is also the second anniversary of this blog.  Who says you can’t keep a New Year’s resolution? 

In the coming days/weeks/months, I look forward to sharing with you some wild ideas and a few fab projects. 

In the meantime, relax, enjoy, and take a moment to ponder what you wish to do/be in 2009.

 

Closing 2008 with a Haiku

2008 fades.
In 2009, I will
keep moving forward.

 

”Don’t ever let anybody say that you can’t.”

Congratulations to the Miami Dolphins, the 2008 AFC East Champions!

Of the many stories I have read concerning the team’s victory, this one really hits home with me.  The quote from Coach Sparano sums it up best…

“Don’t ever let anybody say that you can’t.”

I (and perhaps you) have been in situations where through no fault of my own (and sometimes through every fault of my own), I have been on the losing side of the game.  It is through such defeats that the groundwork for victory is laid.  I have learned more about myself from the losses I have experienced than from the wins.  Yes, I have learned from both winning and losing; I have found that the lessons of losing tend to be much sharper and longer lasting. 

As the New Year approaches, there are several projects that I am going to engage in.  I have no doubt that there will be moments of discouragement, frustration, etc.  I will endeavor to heed Coach Sparano’s advice.  After all, the only person who truly believes that I can/can’t do something is me.

 

Merry Christmas from Sweethearrt and Me

And yes, her name is spelled with two “r”s (her registered name is Callmesweethearrt).

We visited the horses today to wish them a Merry Christmas.  We also gave them a Christmas Eve treat – a warm bran mash!

I asked Sweethearrt if she would mind if I had a photo taken of me standing next to her.  She said yes but only if she didn’t have to wear that ridiculous Santa hat.

 

A Holiday Greeting from the Miami Dolphins (Go Fins! 10 and 5!)

 

A New Look for the Coming Year

Before I know it, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day will have come and gone.  Prior to kicking off 2009, I am going through a renovation project of sorts. 

I am in the process of reviewing/revamping/refreshing both my web site and this blog.    I have kept essentially the same look and feel of my web site (ok, I really can’t feel the web site, but I’ll bet I’ll be able to sooner than you think) since I launched it in 2006.  I have changed the color scheme and graphics on the site and am reviewing/editing the text of the site over the next week or so.  I am also going to add some new features to my site – you will hear some new audio clips, see some new video clips, and I will post some more photos that I came across recently (I have several new photos from the high dive show that I want to share with you). 

I have also change the color scheme/graphics/layout of my blog.  It is a work in progress (what blog isn’t?), so I invite you to come back often and see what’s new. 

As for Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, I am working on posts for both of these magnificent holidays.  I will have them up as we get closer to each event.