Undisclosed Location

Wallpaper is the devil

...or how I learned to hate wallpaper with a passion.

So my dad and I just finished removing the wallpaper from the 30+ years old walls of my work office and I am spent both mentally and physically. I don't ever see myself using wallpaper in the future after this experience, because I don't have the heart to torture the poor sap who'll have to remove it again in the future when it looks old and dated.

Before starting this project I went and scoured the 'net reading about wallpaper removal techniques, what was best to use (chemical vs. steamer) and so on and so forth. The consensus seemed to be use a paper tiger (wall scorer) and chemical spray/gel for the best results. I call shenanigans.

Where's Andrae?

So, lately I have come under fire for diluting the "Undisclosed Location" postings with my random musings. Izzy has pointed out that "since I joined the blog," subscriptions have dropped. In fact, about 20 of you have clicked delete in your feed readers. He attributes this to my occasional post about walking in the woods or about a friend's last day at work. "They look in their reader, see some random dude that they don't know from Adam, and click delete," he ranted earlier.

Well, I'm sorry. And I suppose I'm willing to accept that, instead of people leaving because Izzy's posts happen once every three months around here, they might be leaving because they just don't find my posts all that interesting. I, therefore, vow to be more interesting in my posts from now on. For those of you who haven't left, I'd like to reward you with a photo of Izzy brandishing a small, red, Red Lobster Pirate Knife (the little red drink garnish). For those of you who have moved on, but happen to be peeking in - come back - if for no other reason than the promise of the occasional "Where's Andrae?" Pirate Knife Photo.

On being a wallflower

Anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to being adventurous you're better off waiting for continental drift then waiting on me to do something different. I'm an entrenched creature of habit and if something is new you can bet I'll avoid it until I can't or I'm pushed straight into it kicking and screaming.

That's where my beautiful social butterfly Julie steps in. There's no doubt that I've done and seen things in the past two years that I'm sure I never would have without my long-suffering wife dragging my boring carcass along.

Life with the new iPod Touch

My last "open letter" post was written on my newest computer - my iPod Touch. I say new computer because that's how I've been using it the past couple weeks thanks to the 2.0 software recently released. If anything, it's been a nice stopgap to hold me over until my eventual love affair with the iPhone.

I gotta say when I first bought this iPod I was hard pressed to really justify the increased price for less storage than my previous iPod (16 GB from 30). I had to get used to not having all of my music with me and really lean on my playlists more through being super judicious with my star ratings. I briefly toyed with the idea of digitizing all of my DVD's until I realized I had nowhere near enough hard drive space for 200+ movies, and no will to endure the many days and weeks the whole process would probably take (adding lyrics to 30 GB of music was tough enough). This left me with a device that was cool in theory but not living up to it's potential.

It's a whole new world with the arrival of the iTunes App Store. With apps like TypePad, Twitterrific, Facebook, and Last.fm along with mobile safari I now have access to pretty much 95% of what I do on my computer on a daily basis. Why lug around my laptop when I can just take my iPod with me when I'm going to the coffee shop or some other place with wi-fi and get the same goofing off done. There's also the "gee whiz cool factor" of flicking the screen and using the multi-touch display. It's no wonder there's rumors circulating about a "mac tablet."

Any of you out there ditched your laptop on those short trips in favor of the iPod Touch?

Mike's Farewell Breakfast

The NWT family says goodbye to Mike, our wonderful tech director. Best of luck! And, enjoy Bob's sculpture set.

Open letter to my medical school

Specifically to the office of student services,

It's a good thing that applying for a state medical license is quick and easy. Otherwise doing something as bone-headed as sending official transcripts to the state board that have a different date as THE OFFICIAL COPY OF MY DIPLOMA could cause a delay in my application. A delay of several weeks during which I can't see patients because my paperwork isn't all turned in.

There's nothing more enjoyable than spending several days playing phone tag with both you and the state board.

Sincerely,

The graduate who will remember this headache with every alumni donation request that he gets in the mail.

PS: To all you final year residents about to graduate from your program - GET YOUR STATE LICENSURE DOCUMENTS TURNED IN AS SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

Third Day - Revelation Lyrics

Today the guys from Third Day released their newest studio effort titled Revelation. Fans of their brand of southern-fried rock are gonna love this heaping plateful and wish for seconds. Everyone is on point here and stretched to new places while keeping that same warm familiar sound. It's a good mix of the rock I loved in Wire and the pop sound that they perfected with Come Together and later with Wherever You Are.

After importing the CD into iTunes I tried to find lyrics for all the album tracks and had a hard time, so I went ahead and transcribed them all here along with the "bonus track" Shake. Hope you find it useful.

Google is attacking our brains

Looks like I'm not the only person to pick up on the whole "internet has rotted my brain" meme. Similar to what I wrote several weeks ago, the latest issue of The Atlantic has an interesting article on how Google and the internet in general have shaped the way we read and process information. It's a great article if you don't just skim through the first page.

“We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University..."We are how we read.” Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.

It's inevitable that if you make information easier to find you're going to value it much less and not give it as much attention. If I had to comb through stacks of magazines and newspapers to read the daily news I'm sure I'd remember much more than what I retain clicking through Google Reader headlines. And apart from convenience, part of this has to be related to the sheer volume of information that we are now exposed to. There are things I read every day that without the internet I probably would have never come across through print or even traditional AV media.

Despite the sensationalist title of this post and my previous one on the matter, I really don't think you can blame this on the internet or even Google. Sure, there is a consumer and entertainment bend to much of the world wide web, but it is our responsibility to remain active learners and use the availability of information to our advantage. Time to stop playing the skimming game to get to salient points and really put forth effort to reason and pick up nuance.

Web 2.0: Terra Incognita - To Conquer We Must Proceed With Caution

There is a lot of discussion buzzing around the Public Relations profession about Web 2.0. In many ways, Web 2.0 seems like the holy grail of PR and Marketing. You have a captive, connected audience, capable of becoming part of a viral network instantly, all cataloged on websites that often give free access to profiles organized by demographic or keyword search terms. On facebook, you can look up entire groups that might be a natural fit for your product or service and become a part of their community. On myspace, you can view profiles of everyone from pre-teens to baby boomers and on twitter you can find an audience worldwide when you consistently write creative and clever posts. But Web 2.0 is a far cry from the traditional media outlets we are all used to using to deliver our messages, and not taking the time to learn this new world of communication can alienate that audience and cost you many opportunities.

The first thing about Web 2.0 that sets it apart from traditional media is that here, the audience is in control. Of course the audience for traditional media outlets can influence content decisions, but here, the audience is in complete control of the content. This is exciting because it creates an opportunity for Public Relations to initiate a two-way conversation about the clients they are promoting and gives end-users the opportunity to respond directly and pass along the information to their network of friends. This is great because Web 2.0 users become more loyal and involved with the brands they purchase when they feel involved in the brand. Inviting them to the discussion can be a great way to develop that brand loyalty. Even as the audience's control over the message can be an exciting and wonderful feature of this new media as far as we are concerned, our interaction with that audience can also backfire for marketing and public relations professionals who don't understand Web 2.0 - thus begins the cautionary part of my post.

Better than the CD

As far as I'm concerned here are a select few groups that sound better live in concert than on their CD (Third Day comes to mind). The Swell Season is one of these groups hands down, so if you happen across one of their concerts I highly suggest you check them out.

For those of you who don't know who they are, you might recognize their music on the soundtrack for the movie Once (if you haven't seen this movie yet, stop reading and go watch - thank me later). Check out their myspace page to hear clips and read more about them.

Julie and I saw them a couple weeks ago when they came to the Allen Theater and I'm become an even bigger fan than I was before. Julie's actually been playing their music nonstop since the show, so I figured I should do a write up about it and encourage everyone to support them on their tour.

There's something refreshing about artists who just get up on stage and pour their hearts out with music...no pretense, no glitz, no fancy lighting, just straight up soul on the stage and great music. Glen and Marketa seem so down to earth and earnest that you get sucked into their world and you never want to leave. It's like when you hear a lullaby from your childhood and you get that comfortable warm feeling - that's the closest I can compare it to. 

There's something for everyone to connect to when it comes to their music. Whether its feelings of lost love, personal growth, or getting older they have something poignant to say through their art. Check out their tour page and look for a date near you, seeing them live is like sitting with them in your living room and sharing life stories.