just parker

bad buns

The other night we picked up barbeque for the house.

These were the buns...

"So good, they taste homemade."

Was there no grown-up awake in the room at the packaging meeting?

"Guys... these don't taste homemade. In fact, they really have no taste at all. We need to start making better stuff or change the statement to a warning label. 'So ordinary, you know a machine made them'... much more acurate. Can we please make good buns?"

Of course the barbeque place could put an end to the low-end mediocrity too.

"Guys... we make great barbeque. Let's put it together with something special rather than kill it with this foam we've been purchasing for so long. I mean it takes us a long time and a lot of love to make this stuff. Let's finish the job right."

Of course I could stop somewhere else on the way home and pick up something special. But I guess I'm lazy too.

So many places along the path to our house where the end product could have been improved.

A little truth... a little effort.

I know. It's just a bun.

competition

It's begun. This one from my 7-year-old...

The brothers Parker...

When they hit 10, we tattoo them with 212. That's okay isn't it?

working clay

My 10-year-old is starting his scholarship effort.

(movement coming soon)

Aardman? Pixar?

independence

“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.”

Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)
political theorist & writer

That quote is from the first in a series called The Crisis (published about six months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence).

Washington apparently found it so inspiring he had it read to the troops at Valley Forge.

Earlier that year, Paine published the popular pamphlet, Common Sense, which further fueled America's drive for independence from Britain.

Now... if we could just get something together that would (really) fuel our drive for independence from foreign oil (we are taking crazy pills on this… come on entrepreneurs!)

Happy 4th!

a proclamation

Today, I proclaim...

I will be kind for the next 20 years.

(I was able to talk my 14-year-old into it too so we're all set.)

the celebration

We woke up this morning and the Spaniard wished me a Happy Father's Day.

"It's my birthday."

"That's what I meant," she said.

Needless to say, there was no moon bounce or pony in the backyard.

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The sign above was actually inside the birthday tripwire you see below (you didn't know they made birthday tripwire, did you?).

My business partner isn't a big fan of the birthday celebration either (we're birthday scrooges) so some of the team at work responded perfectly for him earlier this month.

woooo hoooo

These are the floors I'll be shopping on.

And this is where I'll be paying.

And now, I just wish the stock would go up from this 52-week low it continues to ride (of course, that makes the dividend nice).

(I wish this blog was so popular I needed to disclose that I own shares... I'm not bitter... a little.)

the value proposition

If you’re paid by someone else, you sell something.

An easily embraced statement for those with sales or business development somewhere in their title or job description (the noblest of all pursuits), but for those who sell their time (and efforts) to others, I think it’s missed by some (many).

I am valuable to my employer/ manager/ customers/ students/ patients only to the extent that I contribute to what it is they need and/ or want. And that value is ultimately determined by them… not me (despite what some self-help/ esteem books might tell us).

If we go to a store (offline or on), we do it only as long as we perceive it to be our best option for what it is we’re seeking given our time and money.

If it doesn’t deliver and apathy hasn’t set in, we look for alternatives.

This is what our employers/ managers/ customers/ students/ patients do with us (whether we like that thought or not).

Do we want to keep our job/ position/ customers/ students/ patients because we’re just good enough (or because they have little choice)?

This week is the first week of the rest of our lives. Let’s proceed accordingly.

(tgim)

suggestion box: complaint policy

If you have your heath, don't complain.

If you have your heath and money, really don't.

careful what you say

I was helping with traffic on the final day of school.

I said to one of the kids as they got out of their car, “Last day of the school year. Bummer.” He looked at me a little confused as to why this might be a bummer.

With kids, I like to make statements that confuse the clichés they sometimes hear from whining adults and the attitude-influencing television programs we let them watch… clichés that perpetuate complaining and laziness… that Mondays are bad… Wednesdays get us over a hump… and that weekends are what we live for.

I think the parent driving thought I was talking to him. He said, “Now if we can just get them to sleep in.”

It caught me.

I say (and think) lousy things too sometimes but we need to stop. We need to stop talking around our kids as though we’re in a sitcom and start supporting the fundamental truth that life is about contribution and not sleep (metaphorically or literally).

And when I say our kids, I mean everyone’s kids. Meaning the suggestion goes for all those who are around our kids (other parents, teachers, coaches).

Teachers… oh… many of you could do so much better… you know it. So much time you’re given with our kids. And before you and your union go crazy on me for suggesting you try harder and accept more responsibility (regardless of your limited resources and pay), know that I as a parent see my responsibility and my need to improve to be even greater than yours.

Again… this is a we thing.

Overall, I’m very confident it’s our actions that’ll speak the loudest. But let’s remember… our words count too.

212 focus

 
72 holes of U.S. Open regulation play.

Down by one going into the final hole.

A birdie on the final hole to push it into an 18-hole playoff (one stroke better than par... the common level in dictionary terms).

Down by one going into the final hole... again.

A birdie on the final hole to push it into a sudden death playoff… again.

91st hole... focus... focus.

1 stroke less. 14th major victory (2nd all-time to Jack Nicklaus). $529,333 more than his opponent.

I want this focus and persistence. So badly.

(part of the path that got him there... Nike just kills it... make sure you click on "TV Spot" in the lower left... then on "Watch the TV Spot"... great stuff)

unwanted commentary

Man, it’s hot.
 
I must have said that 5 times yesterday to people who were standing right there in it with me.

As if they didn’t know.

green sin

Bless me Lord, for I have sinned.

Today, after going a whole tank without hammering the pedal to the floor even once (and getting an additional 60 miles to the tank than I used to -- a new record), I came out of the gas station and floored it until I hit 70.

It felt great.

I won't do it again. I…

promise.

highly recommended

Eating… (1) real food (2) slower (3) in the dining room

A few months ago, we decided to start eating in the dining room when we have dinner as a family. I realize this might be a ridiculous statement to those of you who already do this but for the 5 of us, it was new. We were kitchen table people.

Absolutely a wonderful change that’s created 3-4 nights each week of real fun (we can’t seem to get all of us together more than that). And finally, we’re putting that room to real use.

Additionally, partially in response to reading Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, we’re trying to eat more real food and doing it slowly. For more depth on eating real food, consider Pollan’s book (intro to the book is here).

On eating slowly… We’re all working on enjoying our food a little more by minimizing our tendency to push it through the system from plate to stomach in two seconds.

Hilarious and pathetic at the same time (once we’re aware)…

How often we find ourselves chewing something while loading our next bite onto our forks only to keep it just outside our mouth… shoving it in once the previous bite is gone so we can be sure not a gap of space exists.

Sleep eating at its best.

(the image is of a dining room in Italy from a few year ago… a great trip)

parenting the teenager

"Time to wake up my dearest teenager. Please don't make me have to ask again."

 

"But Dad... that's the first time you asked me."

dinner conversation

My 7-year-old asked...

"What's a Twinkie, Dad?"

"You don't know what a Twinkie is?"

"Is it one of those things a baby sits on in a doorway and bounces?"

nepotistic narcolepsy

Has someone at US Airways gone to sleep?

This was the only alternative sweetener available
on my last flight.

I know. I’m a freak.

(but the purchasing agent at US Airways has got to be a relative of the generic Sweet & Low salesperson)

hypermiling

My last tank of gas gave me just over 40 miles more than I usually get.

Like most things, it's all about attention and effort.

A few weeks ago, I read a story about hypermiling (the act of getting better gas mileage through deliberate effort) and thought I'd give a few of the techniques a shot...

• Less drag race starts off the light (added bonus: less likely to be perceived as the guy I was a couple months ago).
• Coasting much more as I approach stop lights and signs. Found one stretch where I can coast into my driveway from a full mile away if the surrounding traffic is right (added bonus: slower and safer through the neighborhood).
• Accelerating big much less (only when rushed or when I feel my manhood is threatened).

There are people out there doing much more (like overfilling tires, NASCAR-like drafting of the cars in front of them, using cruise control, etc.).

On this tank, I'm going to add the cruise control thing and drop the car into neutral on the coasts. We'll see.

Regardless... The coasting challenge alone has made those errand and commute runs ridiculously fun (I'm not kidding... I'm like a little kid with this thing). I highly recommend it... green... saves money... and more times than not, you'll find yourself at the light up ahead right alongside the person who whipped by you while your were coasting (and that person used to be me).

matter

How wonderful would the world be if we all remembered we want to be useful?

(tgim)

continued thought

And perhaps you should too.

they arrived

12 pounds of pure joy.

Some of it's for a friend... I'm serious.

It's not like I have some sort of problem.

I don't.

Really.

My kids like it too.

They do.

(some of it's for a friend, too)

lessons from the bathroom

We were having lunch today at Gramercy Tavern in New York and the boys and I hit the bathroom. My expectations were high given the reputation of the place.

Everyone was impressed.

I said to the boys...

"The guy who runs this place..."

...and Sam (10) finished the sentence for me...

"Thinks."

Gabriel (7) chimed in...

"And cares about the people who come here."

A great reminder for me that it all counts (and a bright training moment).

(our boxed up leftover number... fancy place)

Everything was great.

opportunities

Watching the last installment of PBS’s documentary on New York, we learn of the 50-year-old architect Minoru Yamasaki who was chosen over many other legendary architects at the time to create the World Trade Center.

“And this was of course for him the opportunity of a lifetime,” the narrator mentions.

I wonder if approaching more of our work as “the opportunity of a lifetime” would lead to it actually becoming the something special we all hope to contribute.

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." 

Marian Wright Edelman (1939 -    )
American founder and president
of the Children's Defense Fund

(tgim)

an awakening

I remember sitting in the car with The Spaniard. It was after some school or sports event. One of the other parents came to the car to say a few words… all smiles… completely and genuinely happy and kind.

When he left, I asked The Spaniard…

“How does he do that?”

“What?”

“How does he always seem so happy and nice all the time?”

She said, “Maybe he just is, Sam.”

(which reminded me...)

overheard

"Last one to the car is a tapeworm."

(my boys leaving church)

easter

"We know that we are like kinds, and we should work together to make this as good an experience as possible.

Tikkun Olam -- let us repair the universe.

Now Islam believes that. Buddhism that has no god believes it. Every ethical humanist I ever met believes it.

Those two principles: we're supposed to love one another and we're supposed to work together to make the experience better. That's all the religion you need, really, to make a success of this planet."

Mario Cuomo (1932 -     )
52nd Governor of New York

Happy Easter

(closing remarks from the final installement of the 17-hour PBS documentary on the history of New York City... the photo is The Bethesda Fountain in NYC)

mocs

As my youngest is getting older, I'm starting to notice dwindling moments of cuteness (MOCs) in the house... translating to less MOC content for the blog (time to pay rent chilis).

I'm now outsourcing these moments to these boys...

For a few reruns from the Parker house...

office camping

discovery

being 4 at church

science class

deep thanks

A couple weeks ago, Keith Ferrazzi’s email tip caught me… “How to Thank Your Valuable Employee.”

He suggested going a little deeper with the words than just the simple thanks.

“For a long time I have been so happy and impressed with your enthusiasm for the company and your willingness to dive in and help wherever needed. You have gone from gofer to being my go-to guy. When someone else dropped the ball, you were there…”

I wonder how many of us (really) work in such a way that we deserve a deep thank you.

TGIM

12 - 2

"I don't look at it like we beat those guys. The most important thing is we didn't beat ourselves."

-- Ryan Newman
   Daytona 500 winner 2008

Another 212 finish (as always) but this year it almost finished 2 - 12 (how loud do you think it got at the Parker house?).

Of course, it all depends on how you look at it.

2.12

Be two-twelve.

Thanks, Sage!