Fifteenkey

A place to indulge my narcissism... and write stuff...

Month: June 2012

Entry Window on the Event Horizon

June 14, 2012 / / 1 Comment

I’m not sure why the term “Event Horizon” popped into my head. I looked it up and found, “It’s the term scientists use to refer to the edge of the black hole that will suck anything and everything that gets too close to it, into a vortex, making it seemingly disappear forever.” OK. I’m stepping back from the vortex. What I had in mind was not quite that.

Specifically I was thinking about the scene in “Apollo 13” when the astronauts were floating along with little control of their damaged vehicle. Understanding the physics of space flight, the men must have been terrified at their chances. They were literally flying without a net and had to maneuver themselves into an atmospheric “entry window” of only 2 1/2 degrees in a crippled ship neither designed nor tested to pull it off. The paper thin reentry window would be unforgiving. Coming in too steep would incinerate the ship from the friction of the thickening atmosphere. A too shallow entry would skip the crew like a rounded rock off a pond of tranquility, unrecoverably into the blackness of space.

The arc of our lives ocassionally presents these entry windows. Career is a good example. We might think we’re on the right course, a safe course, but really we’ve skipped off into the vacuum without even knowing it. Eventually support systems shut down and we fade away. Do you have the courage to course correct? The correction must be delicately handled, else we burn in the flames of risk realized, but to stay adrift is gutless. You’ve got one shot. Maybe two if you’re lucky. Do you take it and risk for exhilarating reward, or drift off into space with nothing but time to think about what might have been?

June 13, 2012 / / 1 Comment

Until a week or so ago, I had a 20+ page document called “Blog Ideas” in my Dropbox folder. Now I have just these words and another working title called, “No Mo Moobs,” but that’s not important right now…

I haven’t written in this (play)blog for over 3 months, partly because the (work)blog was/is consuming my, um, whatever it is that fuels my writing. Since 2005 when I threw up the shingle on this place, it’s been a 93 octane angst propellant. Angst. I had a sense of its meaning, but hadn’t gone all Merriam-Webster on it. A lookup reveals an “intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety or inner turmoil.” I’ve got some of the latter going, so let’s just write. It may be random nonsense, but it’s my blog.

The trouble with LeBron
During the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, I tried to conjur up some empathy for the guy, but it’s nearly impossible, and I think I’ve figured out why. Instead of just being arguably the best player on the planet badass that he is, he has to act like a badass. Mr. James, that’s just bad form.

A fix for the Celtics
They’re old, and without trading their best young player, Rajon Rondo, they have little hope of landing a young marquee player. One potential solution is to trade for “a project,” a player with physical skills, but missing intangibles like attitude or focus. Like Bill Belichick did with perennial malcontents Corey Dillon and Randy Moss, I think Doc Rivers could do the same with a kid like Michael Beasley.

YouCloud
I just visited a blog and in the right sidebar was one of those “word clouds” illustrating the “tags” used by the blogger to make their work more findable by search engines. The larger the font, the more that tag has been used. By far the largest font was for the blogger’s name. There’s a mathematical algorithm for this phenomena: blog = ego. Trust me on this one. I took ego in college.

Power trip
Some people are attracted to money and power. I’m not one of them, although I have grown fond of money over the years. I guess I’m in the “power corrupts” camp. I’m not really sure why some have the attraction. Wanting power. Wanting to be close to power. I don’t get it. Do they think it will make them happy or happier? Fill some void? Like any other desire or crush, I wonder if it ever goes away, or just leaves the wanting… well, wanting.

Water bucket
Years ago, it might have even been during my NEC interview, a man with cigarette ashes dusting his navy blue suit said, “when you put your hand in a water bucket and then remove it, that’s how much a company misses you when you’re gone.” I guess we are just bricks in the wall, destined to be replaced by newer, less expensive ones. I heard an old work colleague died this week. He had been let go from his job with money and power a few years ago, and then, I hear, he began a downward slide. Aside from the obvious financial impact for most, losing a job can tear away a big part of your identity… if you let it. How much of your self-worth is comprised of airspace in a water bucket? Something to think about.

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