Things I Want My Daughter To Know: March Madness
It’s entertainment.
March Madness is a college basketball tournament that derails job productivity every March. It usually ends on the first weekend of April with the Final Four, and a championship game. Your mother wishes it was never invented.
The tournament was created in 1939. Phog Allen, a famous coach from Kansas, is credited with the original idea.
Four divisions are created, each with 16 teams. Each team is ranked in their division, 1 to 16. When these rankings, called seeds are announced, fans love to fill out brackets. These brackets serve as predictions as to which team will win the tournament.
Now, having been a March Madness fanatic for several years, I can honestly say that creating a bracket certainly adds to the enjoyment of the tournament. It gives you teams to support, and games to pay close attention to. However, it also detracts from simply enjoying a good competition.
Bracket pools are also a big part of the March Madness experience. People pay money to put their bracket, or brackets, in to a group with friends. Your bracket then competes against all of your friends brackets. In the end, whoever created the best bracket wins all the money that everyone paid to submit their bracket. It’s gambling, essentially.
I was introduced to bracket pools in 1993. I had no idea what I was doing, so I picked all the top ranked seeds in every game. This is typically considered to be amateur as it never happens that all top ranked teams win. While this tournament was no exception, it was exceptional in that three of the four #1 seeded teams made it to the final four: North Carolina, Michigan, & Kentucky. Kansas was seeded #2, and was also in the Final Four. North Carolina and Michigan advanced to the championship game, and I chose North Carolina to win. My friends thought I was ridiculous for choosing UNC, because Michigan was expected to win, and had all the best players.
However, Michigans star player, Chris Webber, called a time out in the final minute of the game. The only problem was that Michigan was out of time outs (you are allowed three per half in college basketball). This resulted in a technical foul (when an opposing player is allowed to attempt to gain points unguarded). Those foul shots allowed UNC to take the lead, and they won the game 77-71. My friends said I was lucky. They were right.
I had fun, though. This is what I want you to know, the point of sporting tournaments: having fun.
It’s fine to root for your favorite team; even passionately. Don’t let it ruin your day when they lose, though. I’ve let this happen to me. Living in a place like Kansas City, you’ll just be depressed all the time because our teams always lose. However, enjoy sports for what they are: entertainment. They are nothing more.
Sports really mean nothing in the big picture. They may bring pride, and a sense of accomplishment to a city, but it is short lived. Once the high of a win is gone, you still have to fight your battles, whatever they may be. So, don’t be afraid to take part in the escape of a sporting event, but don’t base your mood on the win or loss. It is shallow to do so.
If you ever get the chance to visit Oxford, take it.
For you Harry Potter fans’ the shots in the dining hall were done at Oxford. I don’t know if this photo is in that hall, but it looks a bit familiar.
Brooks Brothers | How To Tie A Tie | Classic Tie Knots
I pretty much only know how to tie one knot. I’d like to think I’m like most fellas. This is a good resource for learning how to tie six classic tie knots.
My new favorite is the Small Knot.
Super Moon.
Things I Want My Daughter To Know: Old Man Eyebrows
They just happen.
I don’t know the real term for old man eyebrows, but they are very real. They’re easy to spot, it looks like two caterpillars on a bad hair day moved in to where a man’s eyebrows should be.
One day a man wakes up, looks at himself in the mirror and realizes his eyebrows have a permanent case of bed head. So I’ve heard.
The travesty in all of this is there is only one thing a man can do to tame those badger bristles: eyebrow waxing. Most men, however, just go about their lives content in knowing their eyebrows look like a spent toothbrush. Waxing, you see, is not manly.
Eyebrow waxing would require a man to go to a salon, rather than a barbershop, and allow a lady to smear hot wax on his eyebrows, then yank the wax off after it has cooled. This hurts! No, they’ll fly their old man eyebrows with pride, thank you.
What I want you know is that you should be kind to these men. They can’t help it. They had no say in what their eyebrows decided to do one evening while they comfortably slept.
You would, however, be a hero if you developed some type of special ionizing comb that cured us them of this ailment once and for all.
Why open when you can close? (Taken with instagram)
We just returned from Austin, TX for SXSW Interactive. Always a great time.
For reasons summarized on ACL, next year I think I may do half Interactive & half Music.
Things I Want My Daughter To Know: Exercise
Do it for you.
Let me get one thing out of the way: exercise is tough. Not only is it tough physically, but it’s tough mentally. I say mentally because in our society, one tends to feel guilty when they miss a workout. This is ridiculous.
Exercise should be done for you, and no one else.
I hope that as you grow up you develop an understanding of the benefits of exercise, but also an affinity for exercising. What I don’t want you to do is fall in to the trap of thinking that if you exercise enough you will attain some body image that people think is beautiful. Chasing this image is an endless world of hurt. Everyone has a different definition of beauty.
Also, and I hate to break this to you, you might have a bit of an uphill battle as you’re not exactly inheriting Greek god-like genetics from me. Thankfully, a little bit of exercise will go a long way.
You don’t have to spend two hours in the gym every day to benefit from exercise. While that type of committment will certainly have an effect, simple activities like walking will do just fine. I like to run.
I began running in college, but for all the wrong reasons. I was trying to impress people by getting in shape. My motivation to exercise was all wrong. As such, it was extremely difficult to maintain motivation to exercise. I wasn’t getting the reward I had hoped for.
This is my point, exercise for the right reasons: to feel good, be healthy, have more energy, and maintain strong immunity. Don’t exercise to impress people. When you’re focused on what other’s think of you, it is difficult to understand how you feel about you.
How To Rock Leather Pants (Taken with Instagram at Country Club Plaza)
A Fashionable Thursday – Take Ivy « Christian Ross – Purveyor of Awesome
Reading makes you smart. It’s probably what got this guy into Yale.
Product Review: STM Scout Shoulder Bag
It’s exactly what I wanted.
I get the feeling that those more hip than I have know about STM Bags (stmbags.com) for some time. Rightly so, because their bags are awesome.
Context
A couple years ago Jen surprised me with a great North Face Stryker bag. It’s a cross-chest style back pack. At the time I was riding my bike to work daily, and the Stryker was perfect for riding and stowing my 15” machine.
While the Stryker is great, it’s too big for my new laptop, and it doesn’t exactly portray professional when meeting with clients.
I needed a new laptop bag for which to tote my newer, smaller laptop. It needed to be comfortable. It needed to look good in both casual and professional environments.
Size
The Scout’s size is what originally attracted me. STM claims it fits most 13” laptops, and I have found that to be true. It fits both my 13” MacBook Air, as well as Jen’s 13” MacBook.
What I found in my search, though, is that most smaller bags fit just the laptop, and leave little room for a power supply and other such necessities. The bags that did have room for said necessities quickly bloated in size, and looked awkward.
The Scout excels in this area. Providing ample room for not only my MBA’s wall adapter, but also it’s extension cord, a 4’ USB cable, headphones, small noetbook & pen, and even an iPad! All the while, maintaining a low profile, and great look.
There is also a document pocket (not pictured) on the back of the bag. Perfect for easy access to a magazine or boarding ticket.
Comfort
The North Face bag Jen got me was the first bag I’d owned that was truly comfortable. The last two years with it spoiled me.
I found most shoulder bags lost this race with the shoulder strap. Thin and wimpy, or bulky and unruly seemed to be the norm.
Another bag I considered (and actually purchased, then returned) was the InCase Sling Sleeve. The strap on this bag was too thin, and cut in to my shoulder.
The Scout has a 2” shoulder strap, with a comfortable removable pad. Said pad, is slightly curved to match either shoulder, and the bottom is coated with a subtle grippy material, thus providing a secure, comfy fit.
Finally, most laptop bags are made of fine imported Italian nylon. The descriptions often dress this up with terms like ballistics grade, and tough as nails. Pass. The Scout is made of a water resistant canvas, that not only looks great, but feels great (think Domke camera bags). No static electricity issues with the Scout.
Style
As I said, whatever bag I settled on needed to look good in both casual and professional environments. Most professional meetings I attend are informal, so a traditional briefcase, or fine leather tote was overkill for me. Not to mention pricey. Therefore, more than looking good, I needed to feel confident walking in to a client meeting with this bag. A back pack wasn’t portraying the right message.
The Scout gets me there. I know that I can meet any of my clients and not look like a kid with a book bag. This is important to me.
Bottom Line
The Scout from STM is the perfect bag for me at this time. It’s compact, has ample room, feels great, and looks great in just about any situation. At $52 it’s a steal, too. For reference sake, the InCase bag mentioned above was $60 + tax.
The bag comes in three colors, olive (as pictured), ochre, and black. It is also available in extra small (for 11” and iPad) and medium (for 15” laptops) sizes.
If you are in the market for a solid laptop bag, you could do much worse1, and spend a lot more on other bags. Give the STM Scout Shoulder Bag a shot.
1 Did I mention STM’s packaging is completely biodegradable? Extra points!
