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.

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 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!

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?

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?

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 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.

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

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.)