Tag: thankful

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30 Days of Thanks: MMM bop

I am very thankful for my family for introducing me to good music at such an early age.   Although I can’t play any instruments, I have always loved all types of music.

When I was a kid my Dad used to play a Bob Dylan cassette (John Wesley Harding) in his truck when he would pick my sister and I up from daycare.

I’m sure to say that my love for Dylan came from my Dad, along with love for many other great bands such as the Clash, the New York Dolls and the Rolling Stones.

I am also pretty sure I can attribute most my redneckness now in life (besides going to Texas State) to him playing Texas Country. For example, as a kid I remember listening to Robert Earl Keen when we’d go to the beach. If not not the redneck part, he is certainly responsible for my smart-assness.

There has always been some what of a heated discussion between my parents when talking about music. Dad would always say, “I’ve been listening to so and so since…” but Mom would have to correct him to let him know that she in fact turned him on to the artist, such as Emmylou Harris, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Willie and Waylon and Guy Clark.

They both introduced me to bands such as Doug Sahm and the Texas Tornadoes, Steve Earle and Joe Ely.

I’d also credit my sister Briana Purser for introducing me to great bands such as the Black Angel’s, Thee Oh Sees and the Night Beats as well as the classics like Neil Young and Donovan.

Without my family, who knows what I’d be listening too. But thanks to them I have discovered such bands as Reckless Kelly, Hayes Carll, Ryan Bingham, Ghostland Observatory, Battles, Four Tet.. I could go on forever. But for that, I am very thankful for having my family in my life and the music they have shared with me. Love you guys, Happy Thanksgiving!

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30 Days of Thanks: Design

30 Days of Thanks: Design

From the chairs with no instructions, to the sweaters that require no ironing, to the kitchens that anyone can navigate. Experiences and products are everywhere and go least noticed when designed well.

The fact that you knew to pull on that door rather than push on it without ever having to read a sign.

The fact that everyone knows how to operate a chair without instructions even though all chairs do not look exactly alike.

To the ATM machines that now take seconds to operate.

Great design can communicate years of information without having a paragraph of text.

To the business development person who spends more time being a resource and less time being a sales person.

To the floor manager who spends more time figuring out what you need and less time on what you’re asking for.

For the thousands of poorly designed experiences, there are a thousand more wonderful experiences that get unnoticed.

This thank you goes out to the thousands of wonderfully designed experiences that go unnoticed, because that’s what they do best.

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30 Days of thanks 2012 – Day 1

Since I work at a web marketing / technology company the first thing you might expect me to be thankful for might be my iPhone, wireless internet EVERYWHERE, downloading 10 megs of data in less than a minute (as opposed to over an hour when I was a kid) and stuff like that. I’m taking a different approach.

I’m a blessed guy. I know this, and I’m very thankful for it. I wake up every day, my legs work, I can breathe without pain, I can see clearly, I have food to eat whenever I want (so says my scale), I’m employed, married to a gorgeous woman who is WAY out of my league and a nerd to boot, and so much more.

I realize that much of the world doesn’t enjoy the simple luxuries I take for granted. It’s a wonderful and fragile thing. That’s another thing I’m thankful for: the life I live and the things I enjoy are so accessible to me remain so. I’m thankful I was raised by and around people who instilled values in me that have helped me make the best decisions I can so that I am where I am today.

I have a Pastor friend who says “Anyone is capable of anything at anytime.” I like to keep this thought in the front of my mind because it helps me remember that I’m just a few bad decisions away from losing everything important to me. Which brings me to the one thing I’m most thankful for: Even though I don’t deserve it I’m thankful I’ve been given mercy and grace in my life so that I can try to be the best person I can and love people the best I know how.

Photo by Brian Potter
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brianpotterphotovideo/
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Thirty Days of Thanks – Resilience

He-Man & She-RaIt’s almost the end of the day and a combination of code just finished owning me in the worst way.   It’s one of those days where you hope you’re not losing brain cells and you remember being much smarter in college.

I spent the majority of the day working on one of those projects that could best be referred to as “cake.” Yes, I said cake; no you’re not hungry, now focus.

Or at least that’s what you referred to it as in your head   while you non-nonchalantly strut to the so-called challenge.

You walk up to this “cake” and realize it’s a not as nice as it looked from far away.   Before you know it, you’re close enough to realize you bit off more than you can chew and the only thing you have left to do is to continue chewing until the pieces are small enough to swallow.

I have a few of these a month.   Then of course I come back the next day with a new way of thinking and a fresh coat of deodorant and tackle what once seemed impossible.   It’s at these times that I am happy I went through the whole ordeal only because I feel that much smarter/stronger/what-have-you.

I am thankful for so many things but if I had to point out one thing I’m thankful for at this very moment it would be resilience.   It’s the thing that every child has an over-abundance of, it’s the thing that keeps us going, it’s the thing makes us all look like He-man or She-ra.

So, thank you resilience for reminding me that everyday is a new day and a chance to make things right.

Take us out Will.i.am.