Revelations at the Bookstore

Barnes and Noble just opened in our town. This is a big event for me and family as we are avid readers, and usually one of us has our nose stuck in some novel. However, due to the fact that we haven't had the benefit of a good bookstore in our town or within 100 miles of us, I had not been in a good bookstore for years. Why? Amazon.com, thats why.

The first area I visited inside the store was the photography and digital video section. I picked up a book on "lighting." I thought "this will be helpful..." Much to my dismay, as I was flipping the pages I had awful memories of being in school, and being expected to learn by just reading a text book. My revelation was that there is few things I love more than a good novel. I can stand a good business book (in small doses) But "how to" books, no thanks. My brian just does not work like that. For example, in the last 6 months, I've have had the learn all the Adobe CS3 products for work. Was it hard? Yes. Was it rewarding? Everyday. If I was limited to a how to book when trying to learn those programs, I would be flipping burgers at the local burger joint as a replacement job.

This is part of what frustrates me about the public school system. It really seems like it is built around those that learn a certain way. All those who learn differently, they are labeled as "slow" or inattentive. That's total BS. But, reality. This reminds me of the book "the dip" Ive blogged about it before. I wish that book was required reading when I was in 7th grade along with the rest of the "text books" they had me read.

Thats todays rant...

What are you loading?

Im sitting here next to my $900 gateway computer packed with all the best a PC has to offer, Vista, tons or ram, the works. Sitting here is about as peaceful as sitting next to a construction site. I have no programs running other than firefox, and yet the little hard drive is clicking away like Im loading my life-long history or something. What is wrong with this machine? Mind you I am not a computer novice, I have every "behind the curtains" windows program shut down to try to increase the proformance of my computer, and yet, it loads. Why...WHY!

I cannot even begin to tell you how refreshing it is to work on a Mac and have only the programs I need, running. I know, I know, not another "i love mac" blog, but I am becoming more and more convinced that I have wasted many hours of my life waiting for my PC to "load" frustrating.

I read an article today that I found quite funny. It reads like a press release from Microsoft, but in the opening few words it says how explorer 7 is "iphone like". HA, so funny. It shows again how much Microsoft has rested on its laurels as far as technology. I for one am not a Steve Ballmer fan. I think he is a good corporate person but I would not want him as the face of my company. I am a HUGE Bill Gates fan. I think he led the world on a technological revolution that will probably never be paralleled again. I really hate to see him phase himself out of Microsoft. I predict that with the transition of Ballmer taking further control of Microsoft, it will be much like Michael Eisner's disastrous job at Disney. Disney is still trying to recover from that PR nightmare. I would put my money on Bill Gates against such foes as Apple and Google any day of the week, but Ballmer I think would have a hard time overcoming even the weakest in the marketplace. He has no tact nor revolutionary vision, thus will be at least 3rd in the market in 5 years (just my opinion.) For the record, and not to sound to anti-Microsoft, I think that Google is falling into the same visionary slump that Microsoft is in at the moment. Anytime you think you are the best, and no one will ever match what you do, someone younger, faster, and less expensive will come along and dethrone you. Its the American way.

So in short, Mom, I'm sorry I talked you into that Vista machine a year and half ago, I only wish I would have had my conversion to Apple much sooner. Forgive me.

Your Son..

ET and President Bush made me...

This is a story how ET and President Bush forced me to buy Apple TV.

About 2 weeks ago, Nickelodeon started showing promos for ET. A movie that caused me great horror as a small child, and now has passed that same fear of long necked aliens to my progeny. My 5 year old was minding her own business watching a harmless episode of Sponge Bob, when all the sudden she screams in horror. An ET commercial had just played. This really made me think twice of what is on the TV and how it is effecting my kids. I'm not so prudish as to turn my TV off and force my kids to have to communicate with each other, but I don't want my 5 year old afraid of the "Brain Guy (ET)" anymore either.

All of this coupled with the fact that President Bush gave me some money to "Stimulate" the economy, I decided it was both my duty as a father, and my duty as a American to buy an Apple TV.

I am officially an apple fanboy.

Let us count the ways...

5 ipods (2 shuffles, 2 Nanos, 1 iPhone)
1 MacBook Pro (Borrowed from SunRiver)
and now 1 Apple TV

We are just getting our feet wet with this thing, but so far I am quite happy with the results. I like being able to control all my media in one place, and being for the fact that I can now cancel my Netflix account (I loved netflix, but just could not watch enough movies a month to make it worth the money) and possibly now cancel my TV cable service, I think this will be a very good thing.

So far the Pros and Cons.

Pros

1. Easy to setup, so much so that it was delivered while I was on a business trip in New Orleans, and she was able to set it up with no problems.

2. Interface is beautiful

3. We now have control on what our kids see.

4. I'm cooler than anyone else I know because I own Apple TV and they don't.

Cons

1. Its still a new technology so the movie selection is not huge. Netflix was the same way when we first signed up, now they have every movie you have every heard of, and 1 million you haven't so im not to worried about this.

2. Apple is fighting with NBC at the moment, so the only TV show I care about "the office" is not available. Rumors are that they are close to a resolution, so im keeping my fingers crossed.

PS. Cathryn, I promise to Blog once a week, if you promise to upload photos to flickr at the same rate...Deal?

Shadow Mountain

Yesterday I took some photos for a friend of mine that is selling her home. She is an interior designer with a flare for bold colors. I think she has done a great job staging this home, and I am sure it will sell!

Here are a few of my favorites from the session.

Kitchen Shot

Master Bedroom

Front Exterior

On a side note, I have not been blogging lately much although I have many blog worthy projects going right now. Promise I will do better....maybe

Temptations

We've just completed the Parade of Homes here in St. George.  It was a great success!  Its always a risk to pour so much money into a home in the hopes that #1 people will recognize your abilities and #2 someone will actually buy the home.  Fortunately we have a top notch construction and design team, and yet again they have built a magnificent home that accomplished both our goals.  

We traditionally have paid a professional photographer to come in and shoot the home for us, however this year I convinced them that I could take the photos and save the company some money.  I now know that this was both arrogant and presumptuous.

I felt totally comfortable in my ability to use light in shooting exteriors, but knew that shooting good interiors is a completely different ballgame.  I was also going into the situation with no additional lighting equipment except for natural light and my built in flash.  Next time I take serious shots of an interior of a house I will invest into some lighting equipment to help bring out the colors of the shot.  

These are a few of the photos that I took and had time today to do some post processing in photoshop.  

Sitting courtyard

Main Living Area

Kitchen

Front Entryway

Exterior

BACA Bike

BACA Bike, originally uploaded by Micheal Green.

Here is the Motorcycle we (SunRiver) donated to B.A.C.A for them to raffle off. They had it at the office for a few moments, so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. (See my flicker photos for the rest of them)

Fighting Child Abuse

Today I finished a project for B.A.C.A. (Bikers Against Child Abuse.) SunRiver donated a Harley Davidson (pictures to come later in the month) to be raffled off at the end of the year. Apparently this bike will travel the state, going to various bike shows, collecting raffle tickets.

They asked me to create a card that can be given to each person that buys a raffle ticket. It was one of my first projects I have ever done that does not involve someone with grey hair so of course I jumped at the chance. The motorcycle is being painted as I write this and as soon as it is done I am going to use it as a photography subject. I cant wait!

BACA is an organization of bikers that donate their time and energy in fighting child abuse. The first time I had heard of them was when they all showed up at the trial of the guy that kidnapped Elizabeth Smart. SunRiver has been associated with them as our drywall subcontractor is the chapter president for Southern Utah.

The Fence

The Fence, originally uploaded by Micheal Green.

This is my take on Cathryns fence picture. When I first saw it, I thought it was a very interesting photo. As I was putting some artistic flare on it in photoshop, I tried a lot of different things, then settled on this, with the background blurry and the foreground sharp. It certainly is not better than the original, just my take on it.

In Honor of Keith Blackman

Keith was a photographer friend of mine... He was one of those people that could make an instant connection with just about anyone. I only knew him for a few months before cancer took his life. He was a talented photographer and a good friend. The last time I ever spoke with him was when my wife and I were in the hospital with our new born child. He called me to let me know how much I need to cherish this time with my family because life goes fast. He died shortly there after.

Keith took this picture on assignment here at SunRiver. I think it is a very fitting shot, demonstrating his talent.

Thanks Keith for being you.

Stairway to Heav...Quail Lake

After being  inspired by my sisters blog; I decided to post a recent photo that I took at Quail Lake.  

For some odd reason I have always liked this set of stairs.  I know that sounds odd.  After all, they are just some ratty old concrete slabs buried in the ground leading from the parking lot to the lake.  I can remember taking those stairs many times, both as a teenager with my family, young adult, newly married, and now as a father with my own kids.  These old concrete stairs have lead me to many happy times and hopefully, many more.

In my editing of this picture, I decided to give it a dark color tone, with some highlights of the stairs and a few bushes.

Blogs I currently follow

Here is a list of blogs I currently follow:

Seths Blog:  A marketing guru that invented many of the modern marketing methods.  Also one of my favorite business authors.

Official Google Blog: A great blog by one of the most powerful and world changing companies ever.

Blog Maverick: Love him or Hate him, Mark Cuban knows business and success.  A very open and honest blog.  You will try to hate it, but you will fail.

Steve Urquhart: Our local representative in the house.  I don't agree with all his policies, but he is a good communicator, and has a unique perspective on things.

Paul Allen: No, not the Microsoft one.  Paul is a Utah boy that has pioneered family history work using the internet.  Notably, ancestry.com, info-base, and others.  He is a pretty good author, and usually has decent posts. 

Crabs-N-Shells-N-ShisaDogTails:  My sisters new blog.  

Mikes Favorite Things: iPhone

I tried to fight.  I thought I could be strong.  After all, I love my blackberry.  It has filled my life with passion and love.  She never did anything wrong, she always catered to my every whim.  She greeted me with a smile in the morning and held me close at night... She always turned on when I pushed her buttons.  

So why, WHY did I pander to this new filly the iPhone.  Oh, iPhone you vixen.  You are a home wrecker.  Everything was fine in my relationship with my blackberry until you came along.  

I tried to resist, I did.  When you came on the market a last summer, I tried to look away.  But as I watched you prancing around the TV screen, I admit, I had to peek.  

Even when you dropped your price a few months later, I resisted.  "Surely you are not worth the money..."  Oh how I was wrong.  

The moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew our paths would cross.  

Alas they have.  And all I can say is you are so much more then I ever could of hoped.  Its not your fault that you were designed so well.  Not your fault that you seem to know what i want before I want it.  You are my soul-mate iPhone.... I love you.

And to my Blackberry.  Yes, I have left you for some one younger and better looking.  Yes, we did have good times together, and yes you did everything I ever asked.  I hope you know, and I dont want this to sound canned... Its not you, its me.

My sisters new blog...

Just FYI.  My sister and her family are living in Japan and has started a blog of their adventures. She is a witty and creative writer and excellent photographer.

Check it out at www.jensensinjapan.blogspot.com

The Dip

I know I have mentioned this book in earlier posts. However I just reread the last quarter over again. Wow that really speaks to me. What road am I on? Am I in a culdesac? Am I making progress on the goals that I have for myself? All questions that I need to answer.

What most compelling is that it is human nature to stick to a place in our life that is comfortable, and not productive. Sure, we all go for a run after watching the biggest loser, but the next day a lunch, bring on the beef n' cheddar.

OK so if that is true then what is it that maintains forward motion in the things we do. Do we need to have a heart attack before we start losing weight? Do I work more efficiently because my boss yelled at me or called me out in a meeting? Unfortunately to often at least for me this is the case. Why is it that I cant wrap my mind around the fact that I need to be moving forward to reach and achieve my goals? As I was on my post biggest loser walk tonight, I got thinking about a part in the show where one of the trainers was trying to help a person dig down deep into their emotional self and find the real reason they are overweight. I think in most peoples life, the same reason they are overweight is the same reason they do anything self destructive. And when I say they I mean me. The girl that was getting drilled, finally dug to the layer of some emotional issues she had with her parents divorce.

Likely there is much more to the story, but I would say even getting that far is much further than most people are able to get on their own. As I was walking I got thinking about what it is the root cause of unhappiness in my life. Now, I am not an unhappy person. 98% of the time I am happy as a peach in ice cream (see my earlier post) however I wanted to figure out what made me a miserable miser that other 2% of the time. After some self questioning and digging, I think the root cause is simple.

I am a lazy SOB

That may sound harsh. But its a good thing. Much like finding the reason for making you sick, I can now focus energy on a simple problem. Its also comforting to me to think that if that is the case, that means I am a lazy sob only 2% of the time. That sounds good, but think what that 2% is costing me in productivity. That 2% is keeping me from my goals or at very least prolonging the time before I reach them.

My resolve for 2008. Stop being a lazy SOB.

Give up on your dreams?

I just finished a book by Seth Godin called "The Dip". An excellent read, and one that I wish I read years ago. I wont give away the book, but what I learned was how important it is to stay focused on what is going to make you the biggest success. And quit doing all the things that make me lose my focus on those things.

I was always good at sports when I was young. I like many young people dreamed of being a professional sports player with all the benefits that go along with it. As I matured, I soon realized that while I may be the strongest and fastest on my block, I was not able to compete on a state wide level. I was at that point interested in a variety of other things that were catching my attention. Even if I had the natural gifts it took to compete with those gifted athletes that were on their way up, I did not have the focus to even have a shot.

After high school is when the peer pressure began. So many people seemed to have my future all planned out, disregarding what I had planned for my own future. Did they mean well? Yes. Did it help me reach my goals? No. As I started down the road of life, eventually I was able to get off the roads they had me on, and started the journey down my own road. It was then that I was focused and had passion to hone my God given skills and talents.

Once a person stops allowing themselves to be pushed in a direction by other people and gives up dreams that belong to other people and not themselves, it is at that moment that they truly define their own destiny. Nothing (besides themselves) can hold them back.

Seth Godin believes that everyone in the world has the ability to be the "best in the world" at something. For some, that seems more obvious than others. You remember those people that are very artistic, or can sing like a bird. Their future seems so obvious, all they need is a shot of confidence and a bit of hard work and perseverance. However, most of us have to do some serious soul searching in order to find what that God given talent is. Isn't it wonderful to know that we all have something? Every last one of us. We can hone that talent any way we like. Rather we are money motivated or family or whatever.

Read it. "The Dip" by Seth Godin

Mikes Favorite Things: Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker

Another entry in Oprah er Mikes Favorite things... Our new Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker.

I must say its one of the greatest self-serving presents I have ever bought for my wife.

We first used the several mixes that came with the maker, then have slowly branched out and have tried a few new recipes.

One of the biggest criteria for something to be listed in "my favorite things" list is that it works as good or better then advertised. This has exceeded my expectations, and I am looking forward to many extra pounds gained by use of this invention. God Bless America and the dude that invented ice cream makers!

Mark Cuban does it again

I know, you cant stand him, he is a whiny little rich brat, blah, blah, blah. Fact is, he is a great American business man, who has turned nothing into something many times.

He recently had a blog entry that really hit a chord with me.

Enjoy-

"I learned a lot from Don Nelson when he was coach and GM of the Mavericks. He told me something early on, that opened my eyes. I forget the exact conversation, but we were talking about players, and I asked him why he didnt talk to a specific player about something that was going on. What he said was that "THe worse evaluator of talent is a player trying to evaluate himself."

The same applies to business people and particularly to entrepreneurs and want to be entrepreneurs. We tend to be less than honest with ourselves about our strengths and weaknesses.

I have been just as bad at this as anyone, particularly when I was getting started in the business world. For those of us who dream of starting and running a business, we know that we have to have a level of confidence in our own abilities. We dont want to believe that there are things we cant do. We want to believe that if we try hard enough, work long enough, and get a little lucky, that the sky is the limit. The problem is that we let our confidence cloud our judgements of what we truly know about ourselves.

Im one of the least organized people I know. Today, i have an assistant and others that help me run my life. If you ask me where IM going to be in 3 days. I have no idea. I do know that i have a kick ass assistant who is going to make sure that when i wake up that morning, I know where Im going and how to get there.

When i was 23 years old, sleeping on the floor and starting MicroSolutions, no assistant. No organization. I was a procrastinator. Accounting was a shoebox of receipts. I was a mess.

But I lied to myself and said that I could deal with it. That i would make time to get it all figured out and organized. That if I only set my mind to it, I could be a detail person. I could stop procrastinating. It doesnt work that way.

I did the things I was good at. I could sell. So I sold. I could write software programs. I could integrate PCs. I could set up local area networks. And I did. My business grew. But it also grew out of control A local area network or a software program without documentation is a disaster waiting to happen. And they did. Not to the point where it killed my business, but to the point where I spent far too much time fixing things rather than selling new deals.

Fortunately, one of my best customers at the time was interested in becoming a partner in my business. Martin Woodall ran a company called Hytec Data Systems. He was not only smart and a good programmer, but he was the most anal, detail oriented person I had ever met in my life. The perfect partner for me.

Our partnership wasnt always easy. We had more than our shares of knock down drag out fights. He of course would want everything done with precision and if lack of perfection was an option, he didnt want to do it. I of course was the exact opposite. I was the GO FOR IT guy. We can sort it out after the fact. We were perfect partners. We knew and trusted the skills of the other and although many might not think yelling was the best way to work things out, we managed.

It all came down to choice. I had the choice between lying to myself and pretending that I could turn on a switch and become a details person, or accepting the fact that Im not, and partnering with someone who is. Continuing to lie meant I would probably lose my business.

Every entrepreneur faces comparable choices. Each of us has to face the reality of who we are and what we are.

What choice will you make ?"



Well said Mark

Traditional Marketing, how I loath thee...

Ok, I don't really loath it. It has its place in my heart I suppose. It got me threw hard times in my early SunRiver days. I was so innocent then.

Looking back, its amazing we did as well as we did considering all the money we spent on old and tired marketing approaches. Sure they netted us a few sales, but we surly never led the pack of home builders. I guess it was early 2005 when we were at the height of the real estate boom when I realized that 90% of the ads (printed, radio, whatever) that I sent out didn't matter a tinkers damn one way or the other in making a sale.

My whole life changed the day I received a very unique direct mail piece from a local marketing company. At first I said "wait a minute, they can't do that, its to racy, it has nothing to do with the product they are trying to sell!". Much to my dismay I researched further and became intrigued with how much emotion this unique marketing invoked. Ever since then I have tried to incorporate that spirit of uniqueness into my marketing approach. Ill be honest, often others around me think I'm wasting time and money. I say look at the numbers, we are finally leading the pack.

Procrastination Nation

Why do I procrastinate? Why is it that I put things off that cause me stress and grief, both at work and home? Why am I Johnny on the spot with somethings, while lazy about others? Well sound the alarm because I think I have it figured out why.

Recently I was reviewing my task list at work, and realized that the items that were the furthest past due, were 1. the items that keep me up at night, and 2. were the items that I am not totally sold that they will make a tinkers damn of difference. Maybe its human nature or maybe im just weird, but if something is thrust upon me and I have'nt been totally sold that it will increase production or accomplish some kind of goal, then in my mind a write it off as "ill do this when I have more time" or "this can wait because my ideas are better and more valuable." This is easier to identify at work than it is at home. Although I wonder how many things I am dismissing at home that my wife is ready to ring my neck over? Scary.

So my resolve. Before I agree to do something for someone, I need to be sure I am sold on the idea. I am not a very good worker bee who just does the task that is in front of me. I need some drive and motivation to make my task shine.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs interview reaction

First off, I really respect the relationship that the two if these guys have. Both are the benchmarks in the industry, and in my opinion will go down in history as great competitors and innovators.

From a marketing perspective, I have always liked Steve Jobs and his approach to packaging and speaking to niche markets. This interview really solidified this feeling for me. His understanding on how to speak to the consumer in my opinion is unmatched. I just wish apple could find a better way to be more cost effective for the everyday user.

I think Bill Gates is brilliant. He understands his role in the marketplace, and how Microsoft has contributed to it. The innovations that have been made by Microsoft will continue to shape the world that we live in. I can't wait to see how the change my life and the life of my family in 5 to 10 years.

That being said, I was really distracted by the lousy interviewing. I thought it was very poorly done. At times it seemed like they were trying to suck up to the big dogs, and other times it seemed like the were trying to through Google in their face as their emanate downfall.

What a great opportunity to see these two giants sit side by side and talk about how creative instead of competitive environments have increased there business.