Sleeping sideways on a large bed

Sleeping sideways on a large bed, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I've been in a hotel for the last 2 weeks and I really enjoy the king
sized bed. I found the best way to sleep on it is sidways. This avoids
the uncomfortable tucked in ends at the bottom that either result in
duck footed sleeping or a frustrated thrashing to release fettered
feet that works me up so much I can't sleep for 20 minutes.

Usually I sleep pretty well in a hotel, but last night
a fuzzy black speckled cloud like a face that has been hidden to
preserve identity on tv was floating at the head of the bed (where
most peoples head is). That fuzzy blob floated there for a moment and
then all of a sudden came at me with movement that reminded me of the
big spiders on arachnophobia. Fearful of floating fuzzy spider like
blobs as I am, I swatted at the watermelon sized thing only to find my
hand went right through it. I let out an uncontrolled girly
"MEAHHHHHahhhH" which woke me up.

I wonder if the neighbor that I hear all the time talking on the phone
heard me through the paper thin walls...

Home Sweet Home

I haven't lived in the same place for more than 1 year for the past 7 years. I've had over 15 different front door keys over that same time period. It feels great to be home--Northern Michigan will always be home. Since I moved to South Carolina, I wasn't sure when or how often I'd get up to Petoskey. It just so happened that I was needed in Grand Rapids for work--only 3 hours from home!

When people ask me where I'm from I always say Northern Michigan. It is a very different feel in Grand Rapids or Lansing or Detroit. I love the "tip of the ring finger" so many fun things to do and so pleasant here. Green rolling hills...bright blue lakes...historic downtown...fudge...ice cream...woods

My mom and I went kayaking in Crooked lake this morning.

A guy took a pic for me down at the water front doing a little slack lining at the waterfront.

What Should Be Complementary?

Just checked into the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids and I was impressed and blown away with the view (below) for being a company approved hotel. This beautiful building with gold plated ceilings, historic ballroom, complementary turn down service, great location and great restaurants was at one time in the top 10 hotels in the US.

Its too bad one little thing shot it for me. Something that any respectable, modern hotel should have. Even the not so respectable or modern hotels have it. Free Wi-Fi. They are already making bank off people who stay here. How much does it cost to put a few routers in and pump the ubiquitous Internet through? They want to charge $10 per day! This disgusts me. In an era of constant connectivity where your primary customer is more likely to have a wi-fi enabled lap top than a pen and paper on his person, it only makes sense to cater to them. I am disgusted.

I almost got over that when I tethered my phone to blog this. Then I noticed strike two. $5 to use the gym!?!?

These are things that should not be charged for! It should go with out saying that these are complementary!

There are somethings that I expect to be included. They already do pay per view whats next? pay per flush?? A buck to ride the elevator?

Have you been turned off to an establishment because you had to pay for something you thought should be free? (like the notorious fee charged to use some European toilets?)

What else should be complementary?

Personal Soundtrack

Personal Soundtrack, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Have you ever been watching a movie that has you engulfed-you are
there in the shoes of the protagonist feeling what he is feeling.
Think of your favorite movie, of a scene when he is relieved but
focused. Then a key element of the scene comes through your ears:
the perfect music. A team of people have chosen the music that would
just fit. The music competes the scene. It just makes it right. Like on the Matrix when Neo just killed the bad guy and he is walking through the street of crowded people and Rage Against the Machine comes on. Or on Dumb and Dumber when they first start their road trip and they are so excited to ge going to Aspen where the beer flows like wine and the women flock like the salmon of capastrana.

The soundtrack for me that made the scene of passing through a crowded
O'Hare airport perfect?

Chicago by Sufjan Stephens.

Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

I love national parks. We have so many beautiful and diverse areas
here in the US. The first national parks I went to were out west. The
mountains of Zion national park, arches, yellowstone etc are awesome,
but so different than the congaree near Columbia.

Serious Cramp During Triathlon

Serious Cramp During Triathlon, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Coming from a background of mountain biking, I chuckled to myself when
a group of 250 triathletes groaned when the short dirt road on the
bike section was discussed at the pre-race orientation. When the
announcer told everyone to go slow here I couldn't help but envision
myself easily breezing by all these roadies who are used to smooth
warm asphalt. It turned out to be not easy. This picture was taken on
a straight away when I was crossing over the soft center of the road
and almost ate it. I caught myself but while doing so embers of a mild
cramp in my left calf raged into a roaring fire. It was almost
completely dehibilitating. This moment right here caught in this photo
caused 3 days of a sore calf and a slight limp.

What causes cramps like this? And how do I prevent them?

It is supremely gratifying to finish a race and feel like you're about
to die just after crossing the line. But you know that it is over and
that you gave it your all...nothing left. Pain makes the
accomplishment sweeter.

Emotional Decision Making or Vulcan Logic?

After watching the movie Star Trek when it came out, I wished I could make decisions like Spoc: purely based on logic. Vulcans don't let their emotions cloud their decision making and can analyze the facts and make the best choice. So when a vulcan is faced with 175 different salad dressings at the supermaket, he will pick the best one factoring in price, quality, taste etc. Spoc would know which one would lead to the most utility not letting his emotions get in the way. Right?

WRONG.

Truth is, we would not be able to make good decisions without our emotions. We don't have the concious mental capacity to take in all the facts and weigh it out. If we had no emotions we would be stiffeled in each choice that comes our way.

"Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people who had received brain injuries that had had one specific effect: to damage that part of the brain where emotions are generated. In all other respects they seemed normal - they just lost the ability to feel emotions.

The interesting thing he found was that their ability to make decisions was seriously impaired. They could logically describe what they should be doing, in practice they found it very difficult to make decisions about where to live, what to eat, etc."

From changingminds.org

The Love Log In Action

The Love Log In Action, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

Can u see the love?

Friends in Columbia on the love log (aka the turd, dookie turd, that brown thing...similar to love sacs)

What does a popular youtube video do for me?

So I recently noticed that a youtube video of mine (below) has several links to it. It has about 67,000 views and 88 comments right now. What does this do for me? I don't think this video is even that good. It was a hastily made video on making a longboard (skateboard). I could make one that is tons better. But why?

It would be a lot of fun to make videos that lots of people would watch, but how would I capitalize off of it if I just did it every so often?

Another mechanical

Another mechanical, originally uploaded by ben.obrien.

(that's what I call it when I crash while mountain biking...a mechanical)

I got this lovely bruise on my left thigh on the trails at Harbison near my house. There are some awesome trails there and I've decided I want to get back into mountain biking. In high school and middle school that is all I did. I was always on my bike.

There is one issue though. That bike I was on in High School is the same one I'm riding now. It has several issues with it and I will use them to justify them to you that I need a new bike.

Reasons I should get a new mountain bike:

• missing teeth on the chain rings (gears)
• messed up front rim
• the geometry doesn't fit my body well
• it is a hardtail
• it's 10+yrs old
• rear derailleur is shot
• no suspension from the front suspension
• still uses rim brakes

Presentation Mastery

I have been reading a lot about how to be good at presenting and it has OPENED MY EYES! I'm reading presentation zen by Garr Reynolds right now. It is excellent at explaining key aspects to a good presentation.

The problem with this awareness of what makes good presentations is two fold:

1) Now it is excruciatingly painful to sit through a poor presentation (that category of poor presentations has grown as well).

2) This means I can no longer give poor presentations with the excuse that I am ignorant.

Below is one style of presentation that is AWESOME. Notice the amount of information and the contrast on each slide.




To those that say not all presentations can be pleasing...here is an editorial about technical presentations. The punishment for a poor presentation should be stoning in the eyes of this man.