Verdicts...

C on my first stats test, not the best but at least I did not tank it.

Deadline on lit review extended to Tuesday...excellent.

People are stupid...and that's all I have to say about that for now.

Never Eat Alone-My Rare Opportunity to Read for Pleasure

Yes, it sounds strange. As an English major you’d expect me to read veraciously. However, it seems that all too often I spend so much time reading materials for classes and other activities that about the only “pleasurable” reading I get time to do is the online newspaper and blogs.

Last week, I visited a friend after returning from the day’s CD Conference activities. Before I left, he handed me a book and said I absolutely had to read it…right away. I was intrigued, as people do not usually hand me books and tell me to read them. So I made an effort to do so for this one-Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. Right there, I’m in trouble-I often eat alone. Of course, it's a figurative statement. Seriously though, there are some great quotes and pearls of wisdom in the book.

Key Quotes:

“When you help others they often help you.”
I’ve always tried to do this…everyone needs help to be successful, and we must give help in order to expect to receive it.

“You’ve got to be more than willing to accept generosity. Often, you’ve got to go out and ask for it.”
Something I’ve not always done…I can sometimes be stubbornly independent.

“There’s no need to ponder whether it’s their lunch or yours. There’s no need to keep track of favors done and owed.”
If someone is a true friend, they’ll repay you in the long run ten times over.

“Do you understand that it’s your team’s accomplishments, and what they do because of you, not for you, that will generate your mark as a leader?”
Cliché as it may sound…there is no I in team. No matter my personal accomplishments in my work and my organizations, it’s not about me. Instead it is about what I can do/have dome for the whole.

“Many executive assistants are their bosses’ minority partners. Don’t think of them as “secretaries” or “assistants.” In fact, they are associates and lifelines.”
This could easily be called Job Seeking or Lobbying 101. I’ve been in classes where profs have told stories of secretaries being the ones making the hiring decision with a simple thumbs up or down.

When lobbying, many students are bummed out when they realize that we often only meet with Legislative Assistants. What they don’t realize is, and I’ve heard this time and time again…the LA is the legislator’s partner, and often has more influence on that member’s decision making process than people think.

“Shared interests are the basic building blocks of any relationship.”
One has to find a way to connect with people.

“Make follow up automatic.”
If we don’t follow up, the headway made in a meeting could be all for naught.

“Friendships are the foundation for a truly powerful network.”
I’ve said it for years…artificial separation of one’s work (or political) and personal life is a load of BS.

“Every conversation you have is an invitation to risk revealing the real you…the real winners…are those people who put it all out there and don’t waste a bunch of time and energy trying to be something (or someone) they’re not”
I’ve blogged before about the pressure to “watch oneself” in public…the idea that everything I say as a leader could be put under a microscope. (Julie's post about the double standard) Yes, it is important not to say anything inflammatory or inappropriate, but my advice to anyone would be to be real, to be yourself when you are dealing with Professors, administrators or your boss…because they are people too…and if you’re real with them, they’ll be more real with you.

“There’s no better way to learn something, and become an expert at it, than to have to teach it.”
Learn by doing, learn by teaching…clearly one learns, or relearns, quite a bit once they know they are going to be teaching it. I know that will happen to me.

“Balance is a myth.”
I’ve often thought about balance in my life. The author argues that too many people think of balance as “X hours doing each activity” instead of what really matters…filling your life with work you enjoy, and people you care about. That’s how I’ve tried to live…maybe I have balance after all.

“Everyone fails in life.”
Yep…I know I have. What matters is that I get back up and keep trying. I try to learn and grow from my failures and mistakes.

In addition to these, several other good points were made:

• It is important to build relationships as both a mentor and mentee.
• In the grand scheme of things, GPA has little bearing on success (Also, see my essay “Grade OCD”)
• Set goals
• Make lists
• Find a personal “board of advisors”…people trusted to help you out. I know I have a few

Finally, I was surprised, albeit pleased, to see blogs mentioned several times. Near the end of the book, Ferrazzi has this to say about them:

“These self sustaining communities are flourishing. In the future, as personal branding continues to solidify itself as a mainstay in the economy, blogs will become as ubiquitous as resumes. "

And people think blogging is a waste of time. Not. Yes, some blogs are kept just for fun and are not meant for professional “display.” But, one’s blog can also be a good mix of personal and professional, creating a great addition to an online portfolio or personal website (which he suggests, and I’ve thought of on multiple occasions…we’ll see).

All and all, there’s a lot of good advice in the book. It’s framed around business, and I certainly wouldn’t do everything he suggests…the book is not perfect and neither is every bit of the advice provided. But it may be worth a read…especially to those interested in business, politics and student government.

It may all boil down to this: Be yourself, treat your friends right, and realize that you can’t succeed in a vacuum…ask for help and share credit for your accomplishments with those who helped you get there.

To Fix My Profile...

I simply need this picture here so that it has a URL. It was previously housed on the Senate site, but since all those files were modified or deleted when the new version went live, my profile pic disappeared.

CD Conference Photos

Here are a couple pics from the CD Conference...Yeah, I'm not that great with a camera.

CD Conference

By all accounts, MSUSA's CD Conference this weekend went quite well. The presentations were awesome and participants were engaged. Adam did a rock star job...there was some criticism that I think was leveled in the wrong place/time, but nonetheless I think it was a great weekend and next time will be even better.

Perhaps I will post pictures later...if any of them turn out...haha.

C-C-C-COLD!!!

-15 in B-Town this morning. My room is FREEZING despite the fact my windows are closed as tight as can be and the heat is cranked up in the dorms. The draft is terrible. Isn't it supposed to get warmer this time of year instead of colder? Winter 05-06 seems to be happening backwards.

The funniest part...tomorrow-Sunday, we host MSUSA's CD Conference. On the coldest weekend of the year. Welcome to Bemidji, folks!

Good News and Bad News

The Good News:

• I got all the points on the first two stats assignments
• I Started to find sources for my bibliography last night
• We got a few new Senate applications today, including one from Aspen, (after some convincing from Aya.)

The Bad News:

• I still have a shit load of work to do on the aformentioned bibliography
  

Billy's Wearing His Beer Goggles...AGAIN!!

So, this new neighbor of mine, while not supremely annoying, does listen rather loudly to the same songs over and over. It gets old.

Chief among these songs:

Neal McCoy's "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On"

I wonder what this neighbor's favorite pasttime is??

Manic Monday

I've received some comments lately that I seem very busy. Well, for a student I probably am...today was illustrative of my always on the go tendencies:

7am: Wake up

8 am: At work in Computer Store, where I would be until about 11:30

12 pm: At work in Ed Lab, where I would blog, check email, and attempt some homework in between answering questions. There until 2.

2 pm: Office hour

3 pm: Time for Shakespeare

4 pm: Lib Ed Task Force meeting

5 pm: Legislative Affairs meeting, where we continued to hash out the Constitutional changes

6: 30 pm: Presentation about Senate to Media Writing class

7 pm: Time to eat again

7:30-8:45: Start Homework. Devote time to Anotated Bib for Pol Analysis and discover that finding scholarly sources on topic may be difficult. Make mental note to see prof sometime before class tomorrow for suggestions.

9 pm: Hall Council, always quick

9:30: Back to annotated bib search, with a little MSN chat interspersed

11:00 Give up on that search for the evening and decide to write this blog entry.

Gas and an iPod to Go

I'll take 10 gallons on pump 7
This Diet Coke
a Twix bar
and an iPod?

That's right. Apparently, 7-Eleven has started stocking them at stores in Japan. I don't know how I'd feel about buying a major electronic at the gas station. Even if it were to happen in the U.S., I'll stick to the campus store and Apple Store online.

VP Cheney...Shoots a Guy?

As if things weren't bad enough for Vice President Cheney (Dean calling for his head over the CIA Leak/Libby affair). Now this...

He shoots some poor guy while quail hunting. How does one manage this? Probably by being careless.

Froyd is right...it's mildly funny. Nice move, Dick.

Seriously Lazy Weekend

So, I started this weekend with the intent of catching up on things. It didn't happen. Instead I spent Friday evening and most of Saturday feeling rather icky.

Today...redemption? Well, sort of. I have done some Shakespeare review and looked over the notes for Canadian. However in between have watched TV, including some dorky ABC Family movie starring the guy from Grey's Anatomy and Brad Paisley's wife.

Real productive.

If You Love Technology...

Check out this edition of StrongBad Email. I got a chuckle out of it, at least.

Random Thursday Night Ramblings-Second Editiion

Well, it seems I've gone yet another few days without a post. I feel like such a slacker since I know I have so many readers depending on me for updates. Interesting things since Monday.

-Survived round two with SPSS.
-Solidified Spring Break (DC Summit)
-Ate far too many sugar cookies in the office during our decorating event
-Watched Strange Brew in class today...yes, in class
-Senate meeting: the SOAR showdown continues

We impeached three people tonight. Not pleasant, but they had been excessively absent, and were not fulfilling other obligations. When that's the case, it's better to let someone who has the time and committment take the seat. On the bright side, elections are soon and we will hopefully welcome some more. (Apply here...deadline is the 16th.)

In other news...

I've added a link to Apple under "Websites I Visit". I may still be a PC person, but hey, I've found myself there at least daily recently, so there ya go.

SPSS=Tree Killer

Finished my first stats assignment with SPSS about an hour ago. The program itself is not hard to figure out, aside from being a bit time consuming. However, all the printouts of tables and graphs could darn near comprise a book.

Big waste of paper. Environmentalists should be up in arms.

Speaking of iPods...

The quote of the day...

"But I want it NOW!"

-Aspen, in jest, after receiving my email that her personalized iPod had not yet arrived in the store.

Frivolous Lawsuit Over iPods

Some people are just dumb. It's being reported that some guy is suing Apple claiming that iPods damage your hearing:

iPods May Cause....Eh?

They have a term for this kind of litigation: a frivolous lawsuit. It is not news that portable music players can potentially damage your hearing, be it an iPod, any other MP3 player or even an old-school walkman.

Yes headphones and earbuds are not great to have in your ears for prolonged periods at high volume. DUH! That's a lesson I learned in middle school music. So, if you listen to your iPod at a volume so loud people can hear it 10 feet away, yeah, you're hurting your ears. Not a new phenomenon. To blame Apple, and brand iPod a "defective" product is just plain stupid.

So, my response to the plaintiff in this case is: Turn down the volume, doofus!

Minneapolis Wi-Fi

This evening, we were discussing the desire for BSU to go wireless. That would be cool...and a recruitment tool, even if it is "keeping up with the Joneses"

Makes good sense for a campus? But a city? Minneapolis seems headed in that direction:

Minneapolis is cool with citywide Wi-fi.

This Made Me Chuckle

Found an assessment of Bush's State of the Union on a blog. Pretty funny...unless you're a Bush fan.

Live Blogging of the State of the Union Address