On shaving the yak.

There is a chapter in one of my favorite books... I won't mention the name of the book here out of the simple desire to not have my solar plexus caved in by an atomic elbow...

Anyway, there is a chapter in one of my favorite books in which the two main characters, Joshua and Levi, are living in a monastery, and the abbot is giving them instructions and the following occurs...

"Monk Number Twenty-two," Gaspar said to Joshua, "you shall begin by learning how to sit."
"I can sit," I said.
"And you, Number Twenty-one, will shave the yak."
"That's just an expression, right?"
It wasn't.

A yak is an extremely large, extremely hairy, buffalolike animal with dangerous-looking black horns. If you've ever seen a water buffalo, imagine it wearing a full-body wig that drags the ground. Now sprinkle it with musk, manure, and sour milk: you've got yourself a yak...

The yak provided just enough milk and cheese to remind the monks that they didn't get enough milk and cheese from one yak for twenty-two monks. The animal also provided a long, course wool which needed to be harvested twice a year. This venerated duty, along with combing all the crap and grass and burrs out of the wool, fell to me. There's not much to know about yaks beyond that, except for one important fact that Gaspar felt I needed to learn through practice: yaks hate to be shaved."

So, that is where this whole thing started (for me at least)...

The dismissive to "shave the yak" became sort of inside joke among my close friends (especially the ones who are also fans of this book).

Conversations would end with telling one another to shave the yak, emails and notes would bear yak shaving dismissive, and more than one time I have advised someone to shave the yak when what I really meant was that I wanted to be left alone.

How was I to know that the phrase "to shave the yak" was not only in common use among computer geeks and technophiles, but that the phrase actually describes an activity in which I am almost a daily participant.

During a random google search a few weeks ago I discovered that The Urban Dictionary offers the following definition for yak shaving.

Any seemingly pointless activity which is actually necessary to solve a problem which solves a problem which, several levels of recursion later, solves the real problem you're working on. origin: MIT AI Lab, after 2000: orig. probably from a Ren & Stimpy episode

Seth Godin on his blog, expounded on the concept of yak shaving with this post...

Don't Shave That Yak!

The single best term I've learned this year.

Apparently turned into a computer term by the MIT media lab five years ago, yak shaving was recently referenced by my pal Joi Ito. (Link: Joi Ito's Web: Yak Shaving)

I want to give you the non-technical definition, and as is my wont, broaden it a bit.

Yak Shaving is the last step of a series of steps that occurs when you find something you need to do. "I want to wax the car today."

"Oops, the hose is still broken from the winter. I'll need to buy a new one at Home Depot."

"But Home Depot is on the other side of the Tappan Zee bridge and getting there without my EZPass is miserable because of the tolls."

"But, wait! I could borrow my neighbor's EZPass..."

"Bob won't lend me his EZPass until I return the mooshi pillow my son borrowed, though."

"And we haven't returned it because some of the stuffing fell out and we need to get some yak hair to restuff it."

And the next thing you know, you're at the zoo, shaving a yak, all so you can wax your car.

This yak shaving phenomenon tends to hit some people more than others, but what makes it particularly perverse is when groups of people get involved. It's bad enough when one person gets all up in arms yak shaving, but when you try to get a group of people together, you're just as likely to end up giving the yak a manicure.

Which is why solo entrepreneurs and small organizations are so much more likely to get stuff done. They have fewer yaks to shave.

So, what to do?

Don't go to Home Depot for the hose.

The minute you start walking down a path toward a yak shaving party, it's worth making a compromise. Doing it well now is much better than doing it perfectly later.

Hah! Who knew?

Where I work we tend to refer to yak shaving as "putting out fires", but regardless of the phrase I spend an incredible amount of time solving little problems in order to find solutions to the big ones. Often times we will intentionally break a large problem up into smaller ones just so that we can tackle it little bits at a time without getting overwhelmed by all the things that need done at any given time.

So, any other yak shavers out there?

If so, give a shout. I'd love to hear your yak shaving tales.

Wordle

Several people have recommended to try this thing called Wordle, which basically takes a big block of text and creates a word cloud out of it, based on the occurances of the words in the block of text.

After seeing it recommended so many times, I thought I'd give it a whirl, and it is pretty neat...

Here is the wordle, created from the text of my last blog post.



(ht to Marko, Gavin, and others all via blogs).

Yes, I was bald (expounded)...

I made a quick post over on my tumbl blog today, about the weirdness of people noticing that I am letting my hair grow out. You can go there and read the quick version, but I wanted to expound on those thoughts a little here...

First, some background... When I was in fourth grade dad was getting his hair cut at Weaver's Barber shop on Water street in Chillicothe. I guess Josh and I must have been getting our hair cut there as well.

One time we were in there, and I really wanted to get my head shaved (bald). I don't remember what the motivation was, or why I wanted to get it done but mom and dad said they didn't care, so when it was my turn to hop up in the chair that day and Mr. Weaver said, "What'll it be" my response was "shave it off".

I seem to recall that he chuckled, got the clippers out, attached the number four guard, and gave me a "buzz". After that he spun me around to the mirror and said "How's that?"

"Can you make it shorter?"

Glance at mom. She nodded. Number 2 guard.

"Can you make it shorter?"

Longer glance at mom. Grin and nod. No guard.

"Ummm.... Can you make it any shorter?"

Question to mom. "Is it really ok with you if I shave his head?".

Smile. Nod. Head shaved. Spin to mirror. Tentative feel.

Satisfaction!

If I recall, Mr. Weaver didn't even charge us for the cut because he was so taken back by having a fourth grader wanting all of his hair cut off.

After that, Dad bought some clippers and from then on he just shaved our heads at home with the clippers as short as they would go. Once a week or so, the whole time we grew up dad cut our hair.

When I got in college, I bought my own clippers and every Saturday morning I went down to the bathroom and just clipped my hair (again, as short as the clippers would go) right into the trash can.

Sometimes, in order to make it more neat, I would use shave cream and and a razor to actually "shave" my head after the clippers had done their job.

Ok... Enough background. I'm bored and I'm sure you are.

Sometime back in late February or early March, someone in the Youth group challenged me to see if I could grow my hair long enough to put it in dreds before our summer mission trip in mid-June.

I don't remember if it turned into a bet, a wager, a dare, or exactly how it panned out, but by the time the discussion was over I had agreed that until July 1 there would be no cutting of the hair.

This coming Saturday (June 7) will be 12 weeks since I've cut the hair.

About two weeks ago Jenn got me some stuff to make my hair stand up. Now it doesn't look like a shag carpet is stuck to my head.

Here I am pre-hair, and currently.



Some interesting observations I've made since the hair started to grow, and people started to notice.

• Many people tend to assume that if you shave your head, you must be naturally bald and/or unable to grow hair... They seem to be shocked to discover this is not the case.
• Many of my friends claim that I look friendlier, am more approachable, am not as intimidating, blah, blah, blah, since I've let my hair grow out.
• Jenn prefers the me with hair, as opposed to the bald me.
  

I guess the hair is growing on me, pardon the pun.

I've decided not to get it cut after the mission trip, and just to let it keep going until I simply can't stand it anymore.

I think it would be really cool to let it get long enough to pull back in a short pony-tail.

Anyhoo... This post has gone on far too long.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the hair, no hair issue?

I think it's really cool too...

Mark Lee had an amazing blog post last week...

I asked his permission before I used his concept, and...

I think it's really cool that he took the time to respond to me...

I think it's really cool that even though I haven't really spent much time with him or her since High School, that I still know what is happening in their lives...

I think it is really cool that the reason I know him, him, her, and her is because of a video game...

I think it's really cool that she and I could meet each other, bump into him and him, and that he could capture the moment, even though I hadn't met him or her before that weekend...

I think it's really cool that he made it a point to remember her name, and that she could share it here...

I think it's really cool that he and I are friends, and can keep up with each other here...

I think it is really cool that he and I can have these kind of conversations...

I think it is soo cool that she did this while they did this, and she wrote this...

And I too, think it's really cool that you are where you are and I am where I am and we are both, well, here.

(Thanks Mark!)

My Tweet Cloud

Just thought this was interesting.

Click for larger image.

See it online HERE.

See all of my tweet stats HERE.

A Good Morning

This has been a really tough week at work.

Things like a hot cup-o-Tims keep me going though.

Thanks Jenn!

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Almost Time...

Getting very close... Possibly this week or early next...

Confused?

See here and here.

No Comment

So I have one of those tracking things that is supposed to tell me how many people are reading my blog, and how many hits I'm getting and all that good stuff...

The truth is though that I'm such a procrastinator when I do have good ideas, and so busy all the rest of the time that I don't ever go to look at it...

So, I often post blogs, and then wonder ( sometimes for days ) if anyone read it, what people thought, how it came across, should I give up this hobby, etc, etc, etc... ( Yeah, I could go look at the tracking thing, but I've already pointed out that I'm too lazy, and I'm not sure I trust it anyway... )

And then earlier this week something hit me... I was reading one of the many blogs I follow in my RSS reader, and came across a FANTASTIC post! I thought to myself, that I must go on over to the page and see what comments people have made and no one had posted anything!

As I sighed and went back to my RSS reader, I realized something fairly profound
( for me at least ).

I SUCK at leaving comments!

So! ( You were waiting for the point, weren't you?? ) I have decided to be a better commenter. I am making a concerted effort, in the midst of all my blog reading, to leave comments for the other writers who pour themselves into their blogs.

Be it a "Great Post", "Very interesting", "What the heck?!?", or a quick but heart felt response... I want to let the folks who's blogs I'm reading that someone is reading them.

I guess the point to all of this ( does there really have to be a point ) is that if something someone posts on their blog strikes you... ( good, bad, warm fuzzy, what the heck?, whatever ). Let them know!

Last thing.

Marko posted this a while back, and it seems to fit along with this rant so well that I couldn't help but borrow it.


(click for larger)

[ht to lee's things, via marko ]

Roogles out.

Happy Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day everyone!

I know the blog as been a bit stale as of late... I'd like to put forth the excuse that I've just been too busy to take the time to put my thoughts down...

Although I do have several blog posts in the hopper ( thoughts on LOST, the Post-It Pike is getting full, I got stuck in an elevator the other day, and so on... ) I've just been too tired and rushed to form them into readable posts that I'm ok with sticking out there...

So anyway, here is a short blog to say Happy Leap Day!

You might be asking yourself... What is Leap Day?

Why do we have leap years anyway?

a haiku

So... I was feeling artistic and wrote a haiku this morning... actually, after some research it appears that I actually wrote a senryū.

How fascinating....

Anyway. Here is it is for your enjoyment.

good for taking notes
reminders, to-do's, doodles
my thanks to 3M

To be truly appreciated, this particular haiku must be presented on the medium to which it refers... So I give you a photo.

Almost time to clean off the pike again...

Lost & Found.

I took a walk today instead of going to lunch.

On my return walk I stopped at the little coffee joint just down from the office to get a hot drink, and when I left to come back this way I noticed a cell phone laying in the road.

There were no vehicles in the immediate vicinity and no one on the street, so I grabbed the phone and pocketed it for the walk back to the office.

When I got back to my desk I tried the "Home" number in the contact list and got no answer, and was in the process of trying to determine who the phone belonged to and how to return it, when it rang... The number on the caller ID said "Mom". I let that call go to VoiceMail, waited a few minutes, and then called the Mom number from my own phone.

A girl named Alex picked up and said she was trying to call her phone from her Mom's phone because she couldn't figure out where she had put hers. She seemed pretty relieved when I told her I had found it and would be happy to return it to her.

Since I work at a large building downtown, it was no big deal to drop the phone in a padded envelope and leave it at the front desk with her name on it. I told her we were open till five, and that she could stop by and get it anytime. I put a note in the envelope saying

"Hey, I'm glad I found this and was able to get ahold of you... Happy New Year, -Eli"

Much to my surprise, the receptionist called me just a few minutes ago and asked me to come down to the desk.

When I got down there, she handed me back my envelope.



It has $15 in it.

I was just doing what I hope someone would do if they found my iPhone laying in the street. I know I've dropped it enough times that it's only a matter of time until I leave it laying somewhere.

Thanks for the gift Alex. It wasn't necessary, but Thank You and Happy New Year.

Jesus Junk

Dan Kimball's book, They Like Jesus but not the Church, has a great chapter on Jesus in pop culture, and even touches on Marko's oft posted topic of "Jesus Junk".

Was out Christmas shopping on Dec 23, and ran across a rack of these guys at Border's in Parkersburg.



I really wanted one, but Jenn wouldn't let me.

If you read the fine print you'll even see that he has "poseable arms, and gliding action!"




Oh... and the best bit.... Jesus is not recommended for children under three years.

Making the afternoon bearable.

2:55 PM.   

unanswered email.  desk is a disaster.  projects to work on.  retreat to plan.  trip to pack for.  iphone that needs hacked.  blogs to read.   blogs to write.  phone ringing.  stressed because I write at a junior high reading level...

*deep breath...

*sigh of contentment.

the coffee is good though.

*sigh

Jenn's blog scored a Genius reading level...    

This blog is for all the rest'a'ya'll who don' reed so guud tho...

Buzz & Woody - The sad goodbye

Been meaning to post this for several days, but a combination of being a procrastinator and just waaay to busy and preoccupied to sit and blog has kept me from updating...

You may recall that a while back we got some hamsters... Details can be found here.

Well... We got home from work on Thursday of last week to find that Woody hadn't made it through the day... Both Buzz and Woody have been looking haggard for a couple of weeks. I honestly think that our house is/was probably too cold for them to live comfortably in. We had also switched them to cedar shavings instead of pine shavings for bedding and they didn't seem to like that at all...

[ PETA DISCLAIMER : now before anyone goes and calls PETA on us for hamster cruelty, yes they were fed and watered with fresh food and water regularly, and yes I was cleaning the habitat completely out and washing the whole thing down with warm (non-soapy) water weekly... Yes, we have had pets before... and yes, I can assure you the hamsters did not die of neglect... ]

Anyway... Woody was dead when we got home, and Buzz was having a lot of difficulty moving around and didn't act like he was able to see or hear me that well when I attempted to interact with him.

I quickly moved the habitat up out of Ellie's range of vision and reach so that I could check the situation out, and after determining that Buzz was obviously not going to make it I gave him a little boost up to hamster heaven.

I fashioned a hamster coffin out of a paper towel tube (biodegradable) and after placing both deceased rodents inside, stapled the ends shut and went to have "the talk" with Ellie...

Jenn laughs at me now... I guess I was naive enough to think that Ellie would be very sad and need comforting...

I picked Ellie up and sat her down in my chair to tell her that her little pets were no longer with us and the whole process got me all choked up...

Me : "Ellie sweety, Buz and Woody got very sick and they died today"

Her: "Oh yeah?" ( At this point she did look a little sad, but I think it was b/c I was crying and she couldn't figure out why... I did my best to regain my composure... )

Me: "Aren't you sad sweety?"

Her: "I guess so."

Me: "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her: "Not really"

Me: "Do you want to go with me while I bury them?"

Her: "No Dad, can I get down and play with my princesses now?"

*sigh... Great life lesson there Dad.

So... since there was apparently no reason for me to be sitting around sniffling I took the hamsters out back and Ellie got down for some playing with princesses grief therapy...

So we are now hamster-less... Maybe we will try again after the new year... Maybe Ellie will persist in not-caring and we won't get anymore at all... Time will tell I guess.

NYWC St. Louis - Last Post Part 2

I just had to tack a post on here to say that the Late Night with Lost & Found, Skit Guys and Bob Stromberg was the funniest thing I have ever seen.

I laughed so hard I might be injured. Lost and Found are awesome... Bob Stromberg is a great storyteller, and the Skit Guys are two amazing and talented folks.

I stayed to talk to Tommy & Eddie briefly after the show just to tell them how much I appreciate their stuff, and say Thanks for their kind emails and comments back to me and Jenn after I blogged about the Skits that Teach thing this past year.

I know that all of these artists are bombarded with people wanting to be their friends, and share with them, and make connections with them and ( even as badly as I want to sit down with Marko and Tommy & Eddie even for a half an hour just to drink coffee and talk ) I always feel terribly guilty about being one of "those people"... because really, in the grand scheme of things, there is no reason that any of them should remember who I am, and it would be silly to expect them to take time out of their ( already ) crazy schedules just to make a connection with every Youth Worker who wanted their time/advice/etc.

Wow... This post is turning out way longer than I intended...

Anyhoo... I guess my point is that I don't want to be one of "those people" who are constantly hovering around the famous people and trying to pretend like we are friends, and that for me, it is really really cool when ( even after a year ) there is a hint of recognition when we make even a momentary connection...

I really need to shake this "marko stalker" label that the kids have on me too... haha

Wow again... I have no idea what any of this has to do with anything...

Just part of "My Story" I guess.

Late. Random.

11:10 PM. I'm sitting in the recliner. Woody is running on the hamster wheel. Buzz is sleeping in the dome. Jenn, Ellie, and Silas are all in bed. The dryer is running. My suitcase is packed, except for two pair of shorts, which are in the dryer. I cleaned the hamster cage tonight. Woody & Buzz seem much happier. Halloween starts in 48 minutes. It hasn't even felt like October yet. We have had frost two mornings in a row. I like frost. I like cold mornings. I like walking in frost covered grass in my bare feet. On Thursday it will be November. The leaves have been changing. The weather today was perfect. I wonder how the weather in St. Louis compares to here? I want to go tent camping. Tent camping in the fall is the best. I like to sit around the fire when it is cold enough that you need the fire to keep you warm. I shaved my head this evening. I hate my hair. I'm so tired, but not sleepy. I am very stressed. If my days had 25 hours in them, and I didn't need sleep, I might feel more organized. I'd love a cup of coffee. Coffee is also better when it is cold. The weather, not the coffee. The coffee is much better when it is very very hot. Hot coffee. Cold weather. 11:25 PM. Surprising how noisy hamsters can be when the house is quiet. Dryer is still running. I think woody is on crack. He's the mean one. 39 degrees outside. Wonder if it will frost again tonight. Did I mention that I like frost? 11:36 PM. Distracted. Should be asleep. I don't get enough sleep. Lots of people on IM at this hour. Strange. Maybe not strange. Who am I to say. My toes are getting cold. 67 degrees in the house. May need to turn on the heater. Been very cold in the mornings. In the house I mean. I'm Too stubborn to turn the furnace on. Maybe in November. Silas is crying. Probably afraid of the dark. Or cold. Ellie is afraid of the dark. Sleeps with a light on. He stopped now. Must have found his binky or been rescued by Jenn. 11:52 PM. Headache. Took my glasses off when I shaved my head. Didn't put them back on. Eyes are tired. I'm grouchy. I Let too many small things get to me. It is dumb. I need to take a deep breath. Maybe get away. Maybe move away. Maybe just take a break. 12:01 AM. Happy Halloween. Alarm will go off in five-and-a-half hours. *Sigh. Still a lot of people online. Definitively will be wanting a good cup of coffee in the morning. I should go to bed. Dryer is still running. Should go check on it. I think I will. 12:04 AM. Roogles out.

Making the morning bearable.

Yes, of course I'm working...

A cup-o-Tims, NetNewsWireLite, 135 RSS feeds, with 517 unread messages... *sigh

What more does the morning really need?

Computer Environment

I love it when Tersie has posts like this...
Blogs like this one are fun to read, and fun to participate in.

"Name five things laying around your computer"

Haha! Have you seen this mess! Let me show you...

Now... How do I narrow this down...

1. Empties - Yes, the Tim Hortons cups are empty. Yes, they are trash. No, I haven't thrown them away even though they are both several days old... I actually made a mobile out of a few empties here a while back. I should probably add these to the chain...

Oh, and Yes, that is a Marty Ford Experience Poster hanging on cube wall. I should get him to autograph it for me.

2. Storage - In the photo above there are seven hard drives (not counting the one in my laptop, which technically makes it eight). Five of them are in external disk enclosures where I keep my digital "stuff". One of them is still in the wrapper, destined for my sister's iBook. And the last one has been disassembled so that I can use it for a mirror on the rare occasion that I want to see myself.

3. Hand Santizer - I seriously think that I am addicted to this stuff. I keep a pump bottle on my desk, and at least one squeeze bottle in my backpack, and a few more little bottles on my coffee table at home, in the van, etc. I probably go through a pump bottle at my desk every four to six weeks. The first thing I do when I take my seat (every time I sit down) is squeeze the pump. Does it really protect me from germs? I have no clue, but it does make my hands feel soft and smell good.

4. Post-Its! - I've explained my Post-It Note obsession in a previous post. With that being said, I currently have six "active" post-its on my desk with lists, to-dos, scribbles, and notes on them. You can barely see in the far right of the photo the Post-It Pike (also mentioned in said earlier post).

5. The Pen - How could I post about the things adorning my desktop without mentioning my trusty writing utensil. I've also blogged about my pen obsession before. To that end, my current writing stick is a Pilot Varsity Disposable fountain pen. My Aunt Marilyn gave me this pen at Kayla's wedding when we got to discussing fountain pens.

I've not taken the time to blog about it yet, but on Labor Day weekend I happened to be in Tuttle Mall and stopped into the Paradise Pen store, where I was "fitted" for a fountain pen. It was an amazing experience (not to mention I got to write with some really really expensive ink pens). It was there that I also discovered my new dream pen, the Cross Apogee in Frosty Steel.

Wow...

Well, that is quite enough rambling from me for the time being. If you are at all curious about the rest of this mess, I'd be happy to explain any of it.

Roogles out.

Hamster Paradise

Well, if you are a follower of the lives of the Ruggles at all then you are already aware ( from here and here ) that we have recently become the proud owners of two new pets.

"Buzz" and "Woody" are a pair of very cute dwarf hamsters, compliments of the Ford Family Hamster Farm and Livery.

Now I was all about the "ten gallon aquarium with wire lid" hamster living solution as recommended by my good friend and hamster expert Martin L... However, our little shopping trip yesterday has resulted in our hamsters having much more luxurious accommodations than any mere glass box.

Behold, what Ellie now loving refers to as "The Habitat".



Needless to say we had a blast this evening, watching Buzz & Woody explore their new surroundings, run like crazy on the hamster wheel, and get used to life at the Ruggles Ranch.

Ellie is in the tent again... ( Yes, I took it down this morning, but we had to set it back up for bed tonight... ).

This picture is of the tent in relationship to "The Habitat" ( from the vantage point of the recliner ).



Ellie is sound asleep and snoring from within the tent, and Buzz is furiously trying to get some where on the hamster wheel...

All in all, today turned out to be another good day. Hopefully the remainder of the long weekend will fare as well as yesterday and today have.

With that, it is way past my bedtime. More to come.

-Roogles out.