3 Questions (and a Statement)

What are the top 3 blogs you would recommend someone (me) reading?

Who are the Top 3 people you would recommend someone (me) following on Twitter?

What benefits you the most from using Twitter, blogging, or reading blogs?

I’ll go first in comments.

Exciting New Thing

Today marks the official launch of a very exciting project that myself and a group of friends are working on.

On May 30, two of my good friends will begin a cycling tour across the United States in order to raise money and awareness for Water Is Life International (WILI).  The two cyclists are leaving from Nags Head, NC and will arrive in San Francisco, CA on August 01.

We are calling ourselves Team Wooha, and there is a ton of information at our site (www.teamwooha.com).  Please visit our site, learn about the cause, and consider how you will financially support WILI and Team Wooha.

My Dad, the Hall of Famer

The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) announced yesterday that my father, Larry Taft, will be inducted into the association’s hall of fame on April 9th.

My father has been a writer and journalist for nearly 40 years, covering a variety of sporting events across the nation.  His writing and reporting has won him several awards over the years, but I’m not convinced that this aspect alone is why the TSSAA has decided to honor him in this way.  I think it’s more than just writing and commitment to his craft that sets my dad apart.

As a kid, I used to be annoyed at how long my dad would sit and talk with an athlete, coach, athletic director, or the owner of a team.  And I didn’t understand why he would spend hours at his computer writing about the conversation he had just finished.  Now I wish I could witness and pay attention to all those interviews so I could learn how my dad connected and engaged with people.  He didn’t sustain a 40 year career by writing about stats or batting averages or wins and losses.

Instead, he told stories about people.  Storytelling, writing, and reporting was his job.  But connecting with people became his art.

I’ll never forget the time my dad and I walked up to a group of men that were huddled around Peyton Manning.  As we broke into the circle and the informal chitchat subsided, Peyton Manning reached out his right hand and greeted my dad with a, “Hey Larry, how ya doing?”

“PEYTON MANNING KNOWS MY DAD!!!!” screamed my internal voice.

Here is the career bio that the TSSAA used in their press release on Tuesday:

Larry Taft—longtime sportswriter with The Tennessean in Nashville.  Has covered high school sports for nearly 40 years, having worked his first boys state basketball tournament in 1973 and his first football championship in 1974.  He has worked professionally for the Knoxville News-Sentinel, The Democrat-Union (Lawrenceburg), and The Tennessean.  He served as the Director of Media Relations at TSSAA for 16 months, before returning to The Tennessean to cover prep sports.  He is currently in his fourth year as the Sports Editor at the paper. Mr. Taft has a true passion for high school athletics, and has always made sure it got the coverage it deserved.  He enjoys the history of high school athletics and has done numerous nominations warranting the induction of countless TSSAA Hall of Fame members.

Congratulations Dad!

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!

Friday = late start = not a good blog post.  Enjoy this goal.

I Blew It.

What’s the etiquette (or strategy) for approaching someone famous?

The Civil Wars were sitting about 4 tables away from me last night at dinner.  I instantly recognized the duo.  I instantly wanted to go speak to them.  And I instantly broke into a visible sweat just thinking about starting a conversation with the band that has made my daily commute to work a musical slice of heaven.

But what would I say?  What would anybody say?  The detailed account of when my friend Tyler met Michael Cera began to reel through my thoughts.  “Surely…that wouldn’t happen to me!”

I didn’t move.  I sat in my chair, finished my Bad Penny, enjoyed my fish taco, and thought reluctantly about the gabfest I could be having with Joy Williams and John Paul White.

What would have you done?  What are some good opening lines?

To-Do? or To-Dominate?

The main benefit that I’m seeing from making my 29 Before 29 list is that it’s giving me something to do.  Most days after work, I am inexplicably tapped out of all energy and inspiration.  So, it’s easy to come home and settle for a peanut butter sandwich, disengage from my girlfriend/friends/housemates/family, and feed my piercingly loud introverted soul.  This is a nightmarish existence, and it’s not how I want to live.

A friend of mine started calling his to-do list his “To-Dominate List”.  To-Do lists are boring and intimidating.  They hold rules over you and leave little room for success.  “My To-Dominate List” says my friend, “has no power and it isn’t scary.  Its my opportunity to work hard, be creative, and win.”

Not everything deserves a spot on the To-Dominate List.  Doing laundry, grocery shopping, and filling up on gas are all normal activities and need to settle for a spot on a To-Do List.  But if you need to start somewhere, I guess these things will do for now.

A To-Dominate List holds adventure, growth, challenge and creativity.  And when you accomplish something….it is a real accomplishment.

What’s on your To-Dominate List?

Street Soccer USA

Street Soccer USA hosted a small, regional tournament this past weekend in Charlotte.  The event was a success, both in participation and in raising awareness about how SSUSA is making an impact in homeless communities throughout the United States.

After talking with SSUSA’s founder, Lawrence Cann, I am convinced that this organization is moving in a good direction, developing an actual curriculum to increase the graduation rate of SSUSA participants.  The tournament held in Charlotte this past weekend was just a test run of a regional event model SSUSA would like to reproduce across the entire nation.

To learn more about SSUSA, visit their website.
For info on SSUSA in Charlotte, go here.
And to view photos from last weekend’s tournament, go here.

Steve? or Melinda?

In what I’ve read so far, Seth Godin’s Linchpin is really challenging the way I approach my job and the environment in which I work.  Godin tells a story about two employees working at a Stop & Shop:

“Steve has decided that he’s not being paid enough to bring his entire self to work, and he’s teaching all of us a lesson.  Melinda has decided that she has a platform, and she uses it to make a tiny difference in every customer’s day……while Steve is busy teaching the store a lesson, he’s teaching himself that this is the way to do his job.  He’s fully expecting that his next job, or the job after that or the job after that – that’s when he’ll become the linchpin.  If he waits for a job to be good enough to deserve his best shot, it’s unlikely that he’ll ever have that job.”

A quick glance at my resume is enough to tell you that I’ve had a less-than-desirable work history.  Since graduating college in December of 2004, I’ve had 2 part-time and 5 full-time jobs.  I’ve also spent 18 months unemployed, sitting on my couch….teaching the world a lesson.  And I have no doubt that my career calamity will be different if I stop approaching my job thinking it is not good enough to deserve my best shot.

Hoping today that I will bring my entire self to work.  Hoping all of us will approach our work, our jobs with a desire to be helpful, creative, and inspirational.

29 Before 29

Inspired by the talented Misty Johnson, I present to you my list of 29 things to do before I turn 29 on March 2:

1 – blog 3 times a week
2 – re-read Lust for Life by Irving Stone
3 – go the the gym 15 times
4 – lunch with the president of my company
5 – finish reading Linchpin by Seth Godin
6 – hike Crowders Mountain
7 – visit my nephews
8 – play Spikeball
9 – play soccer
10 – guitar lesson from @t_fritz
11 – go see The King’s Speech
12 – watch original Ocean’s Eleven
13 – organize my Twitter life
14 – clean out my closet
15 – run 5 miles (without stopping)
16 – get out of bed at 6am every weekday
17 – order a Venti Americano….and finish it.
18 – drop my knowledge of the Economies of Scale in a casual conversation
19 – purchase and fall in love with the new Guster album
20 – plan my 30 before 30 list
21 – give up purchasing coffee (except for my Venti Americano)
22 – throw a party
23 – back up my iPod
24 – watch an EPL game at Courtyard Hooligans
25 – watch Les Miserables
26 – go to a concert
27 – pull a prank in my office
28 – make a “Songs of 2010″ cd
29 – sell my huge Sony tube tv

Pac NW update

I’m in Seattle now.  Arrived here last night at 10pm.  From my understanding, the drive from Portland to Seattle was pretty typical:  dark & rainy.  Perfect driving weather for an introvert.

Some highlights of my trip thus far:
- Being in the Pacific Northwest, somewhere I’ve never been before.
- Using the Fuji Film disposable camera that I was given to take some “tourist” shots around Portland.  Looking forward to sharing a few of these gems with everyone.
- Singing “Let Her Cry” with Dan at the top of our lungs on our way into Seattle last night.
- Powell’s Books.
- Going on a hike in Mt. Hood National Forest and seeing Ramona Falls.
- Stumptown Coffee.
- Multnomah Falls.
- Eating the best Thai food I’ve ever had, served out of a Portland street cart vendor.

Exploring Seattle today, and hanging out with old friends.  (Already disappointed that Seattle Grace Hospital does not exist.)

Heading West

I’m heading to Portland today to visit one of these guys:

Now, I doubt my trip will be as much fun as this car ride seems to be, but I’m still looking forward to getting out of Charlotte for a few days.

Dan (the guy that I’m visiting) and I have known each other for 10 years.  In 2004 we lived in Peru together for 6 weeks.  In 2008 he bought the keg for the only kegger I have ever been to.  2010 will be known as the year I visited him in Portland.  And I’m hoping by 2015 he will remember to call me on my birthday.

I’ll let you know how my trip goes.

Save the planet…

….become an Uncle.

 

Something Beautiful

Here’s a video of some friends and I performing a Needtobreathe song at another friend’s wedding.  Click here to watch a more professional rendition of the same song.

Twenty “10′s” for 2010

10…
…is the number of days my going-to-the-gym kick will last.
…meals/week will be my average at Chick-fil-a.
…times will i publicly profess my love for Susan Sarandon.
…hours a week is what i will waste by watching Grey’s Anatomy.
…times i will neglect replenishing the toilet paper dispenser at my house.
…friends will give disapproving glances at my new “look”.
…thousand dollars is what i’ll spend at Starbucks/Dilworth Coffee this year.
…minutes is all i’ll care about Major League Baseball.
…days off work is what i’ll miss in order to watch as much of the World Cup as possible.
…dollars is all i’ll pay to get my taxes done.
…trips to the dentist is what it’ll take to fill in all the cavities i acquired in 2009.
…strangers will ask me if i’m “that guy from the show with the dog”.
…days will be how long my coma lasts after i’m absolutely shocked by the series finale of LOST.
…dates will end in total disaster after i admit to being an amateur blogger.
…times/week i will complain about my roommate’s obnoxious need to have “tickle fights” with his girlfriend while i’m sitting on the couch right beside them.
…tweets/day will still be an obnoxiously high number to me.
…emails forwarded to me by my mother will automatically be deleted without being read.
…more dates will end in disaster after i utter a semi-sexist comment.
…minutes from now i’ll be gloating about this blog post and only receive a comment from my mom.
…friends will ask me if i’m “okay” after news is released that the Honda Element will no longer continue in production.

the 5 worst

i am a horrible gift giver.  (in high school i gave my father a crossword puzzle neck tie.)  but nothing compares to these 5 Worst Christmas Gifts i have ever received.

The 5 Worst:
$20 – one Christmas my step-brother sent me twenty $1 bills in a wrapped box of confetti.  yes, the 20 bucks was great.  but what wasn’t so great was having to work for it, digging through the million pieces of confetti.  the next year i put a $20 bill through a shredder and mailed the pieces to him in an envelope.  i think he got the point.
Chocolate Covered Cherries – each year, Granny gives me a box of shrink wrapped Chocolate Covered Cherries that she purchases at her local pharmacy in Taft, Tn.  and each year (usually around May) i throw that same unopened box of Chocolate Covered Cherries in the trash.  i’m not strong enough to tell her that i don’t like ‘em.
the Cosby sweater – however, i am strong enough to tell my mother that i’ll never wear the black, green and gold sweater i just unwrapped.  she asked me why not.  i told her because i’m not an obstetrician living in Brooklyn with my gorgeous wife and 5 well-behaved children.
The Prayer of Jabez journal – after opening this gem, i gave the best courtesy smile and “thank you” of my life.  i filled every page though.  but instead of writing about how God was expanding my territory, i described the struggles of a 15-year-old who wasn’t getting enough playing time and wondered why Meredith Sims had just broken up with him.
1,000 sheets of notebook paper - what is it?  gosh, it’s heavy.  feels like books.  maybe it’s part of an encyclopedia set! nope.  five 200 sheet packs of notebook paper is what i opened.  i officially had enough paper to last me the rest of my entire educational career.  at least each of my 13 cousins received the same gift.  that’s 13,000 sheets of notebook paper….college ruled!  apparently, Papaw wasn’t aware of “going green”.

what are some of the worst gifts you have received?