Sunday, June 1, 2003

I'll sleep when I'm dead. Or maybe next month. We'll see. This weekend I spent at Mount Madonna Center with some old and new friends gathered around my Zen teacher, Tenshin Reb Anderson. The topic this time was "Relaxation, Playfulness, and Zen Wisdom." So we learned how to play, which I've never been good at (I play with words, not people). The key, as I see it, is relinquishing expectations. With no expectations about outcomes, we can relax, play, and ultimately liberate ourselves and others. So it's about renunciation and acceptance, dropping expectations and accepting whatever comes, meeting what arises. This weekend's work may help with that attitude problem at work; or maybe not. I just refuse to take it too seriously. This coming week leads up to DUX2003, which starts Thursday in San Francisco. Silicon Valley STC will co-sponsor the closing night reception, so if you're attending DUX come on by and chat. If you're an STC member in the Bay Area (or from out of town) and will be in the vicinity, let me know ASAP and I'll put you on the list for the reception. And once DUX is over, I'll be conferenced out for this year. Of course work on CHI2004 is starting, but maybe I can get some sleep this summer before going full-tilt-boogie again. 8:19:42 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Where's your job going? Silicon Valley Companies Looking For Cheap Labor Overseas. . . In the end, people can complain about these things all they want - it doesn't change the economic reality they're facing.  [Techdirt] Every time "offshoring" comes up in conversation with technical communicators, I hear the opinion presented as fact that companies can move development offshore, but techcomm just won't transfer well, and companies will have to keep the management/creative/archtectural jobs here (in the USA). And every time I hear this it sounds to me like whistleing past the graveyard. No one wants to admit the possibility that their job can be done by someone in another country for a lot less money. And no one wants to acknowledge that lower quality for lower cost might be just fine with both employers and customers. If they don't read the documentaiton anyway, why spend so much? This is going to be a challenge for the forseeable future. 7:55:49 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

Senior delinquent Yes, I'm delinquent at keeping up my end of the blogosphere. So sorry. Busy, intense week, coupled with fear that I'm just going to come out ranting and say something ugly that my bosses will get wind of, then it will just be all over. I returned from the STC conference to the Silicon Valley STC dinner meeting that same night, straight from the airport, and introduced my very first meeting, kind of a prelude to the upcoming presidential duties. Only problem: I think I used up some of my best jokes. Oh, well. Then, holiday weekend filled with a conference call, a birthday party for twin girls turning three(!), then the Watsonville Fly-In and Air Show with the boys. Since the show is always on Memorial Day weekend it tends toward the military side, but they pulled it off without overdoing that aspect this year. There was a B-17, a B-24, and a handful of Harrier jets, all very impressive when flying. Then the teenager and I went to see The Matrix: Reloaded. I was quite conscious of entering the theater with no expectations, and my expectations were met. Since I expected nothing, I was able to enjoy the ride, and laughed at several scenes that may not have been intentionally funny. IMHO, the Wachowski brothers are now taking themselves entirely too seriously. Then it was back to work Tuesday, and, well, I'm just not going to talk about it right now. 7:45:31 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

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