Life.
Focus, habits, family, and everything else
- Something to aspire to
Today I spent some time with Brad Burnham from Union Square Ventures. Among other things, we were talking about what’s going on at Code for America and Civic Commons, as well as the latest in the fight to save the Internet. Separately, during the day today, the USV team was interviewing candidates ...
- Joining MIT
My paperwork went through today, so I can finally say it in public without fear of jinxing myself… I am proud and very excited to say that I’m officially joining the MIT Media Lab as a visiting scholar, through the Center for Civic Media. I’ve been coming here for the weekly lunches and research me...
- Next up at Civic Commons
We just posted this morning on the Civic Commons blog that our founding Executive Director Andrew McLaughlin is now moving on to take a totally awesome job atTumblr, and that I’ll be moving into the ED role at CC as of today. It has been great working with Andrew since Civic Commons launched in May ...
- Hello, Brieza!
Two weeks ago, we were joined by the newest member of the fam: Brieza. Brieza weighed in at a respectable 8 lbs 9 oz and has been busy sleeping away her days since. So far, having 2 kids hasn’t been as overwhelming as some people suggested it might be, but I’m sure we’re just still… Continue readi...
- Hey there, 2011
I love the new year. It’s a so nice to have a time where a) pretty much everyone takes a break for a few weeks and b) you get to magically clean the slate and start fresh. Rest, and a new start. Awesome. For the past few years, I’ve been writing down my goals for… Continue reading
- Ritual and Tradition
Last week, I mentioned an article called The Making of the Corporate Athlete (originally published in 2001 in the Harvard Business Review). If you haven’t read it, you should — it’s a short read. Long story short: successful athletes take a “whole body” approach to optimizing their performance, an...
- Speaking from the Heart
Last month, I attended the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council’s annual unconference. My favorite session, by far, was Bill Warner‘s “Building a Startup from the Heart”. I found Bill’s approach to be inspiring, and immediately went home to incorporate his ideas into some OpenPlans materials...
- Writing to your future self
I love seeing people write to their future selves. Here’s a note I came across in my very own inbox today, no doubt jotted down on my iPhone while I was half-drunk at a party. Drake. Neon Indian Groove shark – friends playlist Darius. Radius radius Brother “Radius radius” is my favorite part. I...
- Unplugging (sort of)
This week, we’re on vacation in Cape Cod with my wife’s family. They’ve been renting the same tiny cabin by the beach for the past 35 years, and coming here is pretty much the highlight of our summer each year. Last summer, we brought Theo here when he was just three weeks old. This morning,… Con...
- The optimism of the traveler
This morning, I drove from Boston to Cape Cod, alone with my thoughts except for Theo sleeping in the back seat. Once we were out of the city and smoothly on the highway, I got to thinking about work, and things really started clicking. I found myself reaching for my iPhone to record voice memos… ...
- Fitness
I’ve been thinking a lot about fitness lately, mostly spurred on by the great stuff coming out of Clay Johnson’s new blog, InfoVegan. Clay has been drawing a parallel between physical obesity and information obesity, and has been diving deep on what it means to have a “healthy information diet.” It...
- LifePruning
I spend a fair amount of time thinking about LifeHacking. Getting my inbox filters just right so I can get to “inbox double-zero,” syncing my iPhone and my Google Calendar, setting up ssh keys in all the right places, etc. But something I’m still not that good at is “LifePruning,” that is, the cont...
- Knowing the tone of the room
One of the toughest things I’ve encountered, as I attend meetings, speak on panels, do interviews, and go to conferences, is that you never quite know what the tone of the room will be like until you get there. In other words, there are always a ton of different approaches you can take to a… Contin...
- This makes my heart melt
Today, Theo took his first ever bite of solid food. I get all welled up looking at pictures of him while I’m at work. Continue reading
- The Perfect Conference Format
I’ve been attending a lot of events lately, and one thing that keeps coming up for me is that the multi-day conference / workshop format is a bit broken. My main beef: by day two (or god forbid, day three) the audience has petered out and whatever energy was there on day one has been… Continue readi...
- Welcome Theo
Introducing the newest member of the clan: Theo. It’s now been nearly two weeks since Theo joined us, and it’s been pretty amazing (and tiring) thus far. I’ve been intentionally keeping him off of the public intertubes, but figured one cute “hello, world” shot was safe enough. I am enjoying every...
- Happy Halloween
It’s really amazing how walking down the street with a funny hat on puts smiles on people’s faces. Today, I’m going to pretend I’m not wearing a viking hat. I only wish I had bought the hat before I got on the subway this morning. Happy Halloween! Continue reading
- Goodbye Fresh Direct, Hello Max Delivery
Here at TOPP, we’ve been using Fresh Direct for a while now for our office groceries (even while being critical of them on one of our blogs). It’s easy — we can order online and have food delivered right to the office. However, the packaging Fresh Direct uses is really outrageous; items are delive...
- Buy my car!
Frannie and I are ready to sell our car, Dudley. He’s a great car, and we love him, but we just don’t use him enough to justify the expense. If you’re interested or know anyone who might be, let me know I didn’t make a website for this car like I did last time, but… Continue reading