Brain Spool

Break Your Problems Into Pieces and Then Reassemble!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:29:56 -0700

Break Your Problems Into Pieces and Then Reassemble!:

Another “ThinkerToys” exercise, by Michael Michalko. Im not meeting my goal of one per day, but hey one per week is better than none. I have been thinking a lot about education and after…

Asu starting line up

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:28:28 -0700

Asu starting line up

Devils Soccer

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:05:15 -0700

Devils Soccer

Robot production at gangplank jr!!!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:40:34 -0700

Robot production at gangplank jr!!!

National Novel Writing Month and Prag Pro Wri Mo

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:14:05 -0700

National Novel Writing Month and Prag Pro Wri Mo:

I admit it. I’m addicted to books. I love to read. I have my father to blame for this addiction. I have talked about reading a lot in the past, but today it’s about something different. It’s…

Challenge Conventional Assumptions

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:14:04 -0700

Challenge Conventional Assumptions:

I have been reading “ThinkerToys” by Michael Michalko. I am going to try to do one Thinkertoy exercise per day (or at least a few per week). The goal is to help get my brain to be in a creative…

Successful Startups Need Supportive Communities

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:14:04 -0700

Successful Startups Need Supportive Communities:

A while back I was reading Paul Graham’s “What Startups Are Really Like“. The whole essay is great, Paul has a way of really getting to the point and understanding the culture, pain and joy of…

DJ Faux Hawk

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:14:34 -0700

DJ Faux Hawk

iPhone catching up to Blackberry….

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:47:03 -0700

iPhone catching up to Blackberry….

Awesome Arduino Hack

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:39:10 -0700

Awesome Arduino Hack

Arsenal Pre Game Soccer Tennis

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:56:19 -0700

Arsenal Pre Game Soccer Tennis

When Municipal Vehicles Are In Mating Season

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:50:05 -0700

When Municipal Vehicles Are In Mating Season

Make Use of Your Library and Read For Free!!!

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:30:31 -0700

Make Use of Your Library and Read For Free!!!:

I have recently rediscovered the awesomeness of the Maricopa County Public Library system. My family has started going there again and when the kids asked recently, I took them instead of the…

Does Phoenix Need To Change?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:20:37 -0700

Does Phoenix Need To Change?:

Last night, had some great conversation at Gangplank Hacknight with Remi Taylor, Chuck Reynolds, Ed Nusbaum, Mark Ng, Steve Swedler, Byron Bowerman, Ryan Gasparini, Mike Benner and…

Can We Get Over It?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:48:33 -0700

Can We Get Over It?:

This morning I was getting bummed that I haven’t taken the family for an RV road trip in a while. To compensate I went to the RV road mix on the iPod. My mind was wandering and I found myself…

How Do We Fix Phoenix? Solutions Are Out There!

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:27:40 -0700

How Do We Fix Phoenix? Solutions Are Out There!:

A blog I started reading recently and suggested by Chuck Reynolds called Rogue Columnist, is pretty interesting. It highlights a lot of the problems in Phoenix from someone that was raised here…

Work Life Balance

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:14:21 -0700

okay, so I must admit.. that not being able to have conversations, do business or make deals outside of the hours of 8am to 5pm frustrates the fuck out of me. Not a little bit, but a lot. It’s the mentality of “checking out” and doing business outside the norm as being “off limits” that makes me feel like living in Phoenix is perhaps a bad choice.

One thing that I love about the area is that its family friendly and good for raising kids, but that same plus is a major negative when looked at in a different light. I think what kills me more than anything is this notion of “work life balance”. Simply put if you are able to put work in one box and life in another box, you are doing it wrong.

Before you think I am nuts. Think about it for a minute. It means you are NOT passionate about what you do to earn your living. It means at some point what you do feels like work and therefore you need to classify it as something not part of your life. This makes me sad inside. I think when you are really truly doing something that you love to earn your living, that there is no way to separate the two. Maybe that’s a bad thing, but best I can tell that is how the world gets changed.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not advocating not spending time with your family, kids or the likes, but this concept of “disengaging” is what is troublesome. Who knows. Maybe Im just mentally handicapped.

The key is not to “work” 80 weeks. The key is to live. Not advocating workaholic bullshit, simply saying shutting yourself off closes doors for opportunity and serendipity to happen. If you feel the need for Work Life Balance. Quit your job as soon as possible. Stop doing what feels like work and start living life. Seriously. When you can find what you love to do and get paid for, your life will never be the same. I promise. So stop trying to fucking “balance” and start to fucking live.

Now that I re-read this, I think I might be full of shit, but i’m hitting save anyways.

Why Do You Live Where You Live?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:01:00 -0700

NOTE: Looks like Tumblr sucks and you have to have a tumblr account to respond.

If you arent able to answer the question here go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=N5WM_2fGRZiAiJaFnRi7pGDw_3d_3d

I’m curious as to why people choose to live where they live. So indulge me and answer the question. Why do you live where you live? Specifically, what drew you to move there and why do like being there. If you don’t like living there still explain why you are there and what you don’t like about it. If you are considering moving somewhere else include that too. If you moved here from somewhere else please say where you were from originally.

This is by no means meant to be scientific, it is more my curiosity as to what motivates people to live where they do. I have been doing a lot of research in this area and want to get some first person stories. Please respond here, twitter or your own blog. If you could @dneighbors on twitter with a link to your response it would be great.

“When Properly Prepared, Anything That Goes Wrong can Be Easily Overcome

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:52:26 -0700

“When Properly Prepared, Anything That Goes Wrong can Be Easily Overcome:

Murphy’s law states “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

I think those that find this law to affect them frequently, should do some introspection. About the only time this law is able to…

What Phoenix Can Learn From Willy Wonka

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:50:01 -0700

What Phoenix Can Learn From Willy Wonka:

This morning on the drive in I saw Chris Conrey tweet, “The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along w/ people.”-Theodore Roosevelt (listening…