Monthly Archives: August 2010

Todays words from the digital man cave are about education. And a change in format. I’ve been doing this for 12 weeks now and it’s been a  good thing. I started this Sunday regular series for a few reasons. 1) I really wanted to stick to a set post schedule and I needed something consistent to nail that down. 2) I wanted to chronicle my adventures and misadventures in going back to school. 3) I needed a regular post topic to free up time and mindspace to work on other projects.

Well now that the first quarter is all done, I’m going to switch it up a little bit and not post about the educational world every week. The experiment was successful and I’ve got the schedule down. I’ll just post on it as things come up, and the week counter will still be kept for the frame of reference on how far along things have progressed.

I’m doing this so I can provide a little bit more varied content here at the digital man cave. Right now I’m only giving you the meat and potatoes once a week. I need the option to hit you with the double whammy on the regular. Other projects will continue as they have been… something about not being in an office right now makes it much easier to think and create. Go figure. You’re probably wondering what all this has to do with education and what have I learned over the last twelve weeks.

Well first, going back to school is not all it’s cracked up to be. When you’re out of school you kind of miss it. Don’t let the nostalgia fool you. The fact of the matter is, once you get out of school you fill your time with all sorts of other things. When you go back to school those other things don’t necessarily disappear, and change is rarely ever easy.

The second thing that has stuck out to me is that you sometimes want to plan ahead from your planning ahead. You got the feeling like something is about to blow up in your face, listen to it. Things come up. Gotta be able to adapt. Darwin wasn’t stupid. Whether or not you should care what he had to say is something that will probably never be debated here, but in modern life the law of the land is “he who is most adaptable will survive and thrive“.

Stay tuned to the digital man cave as you get more of what I hope you enjoy!

Todays words from the digital man cave are about my news feed reader. Actually it’s kind of about what I read on Seth Godin’s blog about him not publishing books anymore in the traditional format. Why does this matter here at the digital man cave? BECAUSE I WANT TO WRITE A BOOK.

Scratch that. BECAUSE I AM WRITING A BOOK.

Now I’m not saying that whatever Seth Godin does, that is the way to go. Not saying that at all. I like some of the things the guy says, but sometimes he irritates me for good and bad reasons, and from the neck up he somehow taps into some primal childhood fear that I have and creeps me the eff out. That picture over there. FULL TANK OF NIGHTMARE FUEL. Aside from that the guy has said and done some pretty creative things. Enough so that he’s made my list.

The group that this blog became associated with recently also had something to say about Godin’s work, although they are more concerned with the level of originality and creativity that is being seen on a regular basis, not necessarily the state of the industry. Or any industry actually. Different concerns over there than in the digital man cave.

When I’ve envisioned myself on this book writing journey, I’ve seen myself releasing character bios, short back-story pieces, maybe even full chapters along the way to get some feedback and so people can get used to my style. And maybe, just maybe, someone will be paying attention when the thing is actually complete and ready for publishing. Now, I don’t know much about this side of the book industry but from what I know publishers and authors don’t just give away the book as it is being created. As far as I know the profit margin isn’t very high in doing that.

But what do I know about profit margins as a writer? Particularly as a writer who was born and bred in the digital age?

What do you know about it? Hit me in the comments and stayed tuned for more words from the digital man cave!

Todays words from the digital man cave are once again, on mastering education. This first session is almost over… This is the end of week 11, and nearly the end of the quarter. And what have I learned over these 11 short weeks? A number of things but this week I relearned a very valuable lesson.

Punishment has its placed in life.

At times, it is a very very useful tool. What I mean is that, it can be a motivator as well as a teacher. I think most people believe in the power of reinforcement as a teacher and motivator but I think punishment has its place too. For example, in the past couple weeks I was unable to turn in an assignment on time. I simply scheduled too many things to happen within the same few hours and it ended up coming to a point where I couldn’t complete my duties within the specified time limits. Well, the consequences of doing something like there have been spelled out since Week 1 Day 1 for me so I expected to receive adequate punishment.

Nothing.

Not a single thing was done about it. So where was my motivation the next time that situation came up? In the crapper, that’s where. And what was the lesson that I learned? I shouldn’t be so intent on following all of the set guidelines if the people in charge weren’t. This is bad. The punishment should have been there to teach me that the choices I make can have unfavorable consequences, and it should have been there to motivate me to not let it happen again.

See, punishment has its place. Especially in education. Then again, maybe I’m just being ungrateful for catching a lucky break…

What do you think?

If you were once in my situation, did not receiving an adequate punishment change the way you interacted with your education? Or were you just grateful to catch a break?

Let me know in the comments and stay tuned for more from the digital man cave!

Todays words from the digital man cave are about a topic that will probably make me sound like an obsessive compulsive, overly technical, monstrously uncool geek. Flowcharts. The glorious glorious world of flowcharts and life.

You’re shaking your head right now aren’t you? It’s okay, I’m used to it. I write for a place called “The Digital Man Cave”. Getting funny looks are sorta the norm.

I’m really not as crazy as I sound. Yes I can be obsessive-compulsive, yes I am a geek, and I have no clue if I’ve ever been a part of “the cool crowd”. But I’m not crazy. I can’t be the only one that flowcharts out the major plot points in their life story. We all do on some level. Do I go left or right? Park here, park there? Do this on the weekend, or do that? If I do this, does it bring me closer to this, or is it only pushing me away from that?

In it’s modern day form we call it  mindmapping now. Businesses create these maps to help them organize information, solve problems, see the relationships between things, and make decisions.

You know, it’s a pretty commonly accepted notion that in order to get somewhere you need to know where you’re going. You need to be able to see if you’re making progress on that journey. You need to be able to clearly know when you’re off-course. You need to have a map. If you know me personally you might think that statement is uncharacteristic of me. Funny even. I tend to try not to plan farther than 2 days in advance because I believe a lot can change more than 48hours out. And because I am terrible at keeping a calendar. So talking about maps is actually a foreign concept coming from me. The old me that is. The new me wants to know what the hell he is doing, before it is happening. Something about being proactive instead of reactive…

Life is kind of like a baseball that got hit funny and is going sideways off into the crowd. It’s unpredictable and exciting, and has the potential to be awesome or painful. Now imagine you were at the game of life, trying to catch a potential souvenir baseball but you weren’t ever really paying attention. You had no gameplan or concept of what you were doing. And that baseball was coming right for your head, as many opportunities and experiences in life are. Kinda hard to sieze life by the ball if you never saw it coming, right?

So do you have a map? Have you ever taken time to do a little mindmapping? It could actually be a worthwhile exercise if you’re feeling a little unguided in life (who isn’t at some point?), because it’s not just for businesses you know.

Let me know in the comments and stay connected for more words from the digital man cave!

Todays words from the digital man cave are about this chart to my left. It’s not really a chart, but a diagram. Anyway it’s called the dating triangle. The idea is…. pretty self explanatory. Three choices of personality traits, pick the two that matter most in a mate and there you go. Not easy right?

Of course not. You’ve got three choices, and they’re all fundamental traits. They are things that everyone wants and feels they deserve in a relationship. Making the choice is like telling a guy “Look I don’t like this any more than you do, but I’ve got to cut something off. Your throwing arm, your leg with the good knee, or your johnson. What’s it gonna be?”

I hope to never get asked a question like that point blank but in a way I already have. Everyone in a relationship already has.

At the root of this question is compromise and the idea of “settling”. I think it’s safe to say that most people believe compromise is necessary to having a happy relationship (personally I believe having this man cave is necessary too, but no one ever asks me).You’ve got two people who, despite all appearances, have completely differing viewpoints on life. Even with the most compatible looking couple, I’d bet Bill Gates’ fortune that there’s a handful of things they really just don’t agree on and a truckload they compromise on. It’s just the nature of people. Settling on the other hand is… like admitting defeat for some people. You know what you want but you stop short of achieving it.

So what’s a guy to do? How do you choose the perfect mate?

First, start by asking yourself what’s important to you. Every. Single. Day. You can never ask that question too many times. You know why? The answer will change with time. Priorities shift, desires grow and shrink. What was once absolutely the most desirable thing in the world, one day won’t be.

Second, don’t compromise and don’t settle. Just don’t. This is a bit weird to say but hear me out. We all know what we like or don’t like in some form. What we don’t already know, we learn over time. Now I think it’s safe to say that most people want someone who is intelligent, attractive, and sane. All three traits. So why should you settle for TWO out of three? Why should you compromise and forcibly change your internal definition of those three things?

Do you really believe you’re not worth looking for, and going for, what you actually want?

I hope not, because that’s what you’d be telling yourself  subconsciously.

Look, I think most people want to date someone attractive to them, at all points in their lives. I think most people want to date someone that won’t stab them in their sleep, at all points in their lives. I think most people want to date someone that they can speak to without feeling like a mental pedophile, at all points in their lives.

If I could boil it down, what I’m saying at the core is: Don’t lie to yourself about what you really want. You aren’t doing anyone any favors when you do it.

Stay tuned for more from the digital man cave!