Learning Python

Ok, I'm going to try to learn Python. Overall, I've been reading that it's a very powerful yet very simple language to pick up on. Plus the interpreter is opensource and it's already on the Mac. Here are a few resources I'm starting with:

http://www.python.org/ is the official site for Python.

http://www.sthurlow.com/python/ gives some good step-by-step instruction on how to program in Python.

http://www.pythonchallenge.com/ teaches through solving puzzles - really fun.

Nyanja Words

run                 tamangani
make a circle       pangani circle
come back           bwelela
come in front       kutsogolo
how are you/hello   mulibwanji
good afternoon      mwachoma bwanji (mwachoma = how is your day, bwanji is the greeting)
good morning        mwauka bwanji
how was work        mwasibza (mwasibenza) bwanji
pastor "rob"        abusa "rob"
pastors wife        mibusa

Hey, Help me shove all these people in!

As a railroader, I can appreciate the need to get as much freight into the car as possible.

My Favorite Writer

My friend, Stephanie, is a really talented writer. She has her own blog (link) and I think you'd enjoy checking it out.

Stephanie's writing is very honest and emotional. She has a knack for expressing herself in a way that really makes you feel both her pleasures and pains. There's something in her writing that I think can break through to the most hardened of hearts. It's closer to poetry than to prose. It's almost like listening to her think.

I really hope she'll write a book one day.

But don't tell her I told you all this. It'll go straight to her head.

Twitter

I'm not sure what to think of Twitter (link). It seems really cool, but I don't necessarily understand the difference between that and using anything else, like blogger. Anyways, I'll have to spend some more time with it.

If you haven't used it, it's sorta like a Nextel SMS sorta thing. So, any message you send (if you are public) can be seen by everyone. You can build a network of friends, so that when they log in, they will see just your messages. Another analogy is maybe being in a big crowd and yelling to everyone?

It's something you just need to try to get a feel for how it works.

Stories from SCARR

Darryl is my off roading buddy. He, his wife, and I have had several awesome adventures together. So, I've got quite a few stories, which I'll post here and there as I think of them.

The Tree

I was leading a group of drivers along one of the many trails at Barnwell Mtn, which was a new experience for me. Not that it's a difficult thing, but I never really paid attention to where trail heads were. It's kinda like sitting in the passenger seat when you're going somewhere and you're never really sure how you got there since you weren't focused on driving, right?

Anyways, we were at the end of the current trail and were were discussing what trail to go to next. We thought Angry Jeep would be a fun one to do next. But I didn't know how to get there. So we're all stopped for a breather and Darryl comes up to give me directions.

Okay, so keep following this trail up the hill.

Ok

And when you get to the access road turn left.

Ok

Then follow the access road for a little bit until you get to a tree and then turn left again.

I pause for a couple of seconds to consider this, look around, then say,

Darryl, we're in a forest.

Now, Discover You Strengths, 2

In my last post, I told you what my 5 strengths were, according to the strength finder tool.  I hadn't quite finished the book at the time, but did so today.

Here's the deal.  If you're serious about business - either starting your own or managing people for someone else - you need to read this book.  It makes a whole lot of sense and provides excellent guidance on how best to create highly effective, happy, productive employees.  I should warn you, though, if you're the type of person who doesn't accept differences between people and thinks that it's your way or the highway... you won't like this book.  Move on, thanks for playing.

The basics are this: get to know your people and what they do well.  This has nothing to do with hobbies - this is about personality.  Are they highly analytical?  Do they love learning?  Are they great at building relationships?  Get to understand how their minds work and process and then put them in situations or design their job functions to capitalize on those talents.

You'll have to read the book to understand why, or hire me as your consultant. ;)

Now, Discover Your Strengths

At the Envision 08, we had the pleasure of hearing Marcus Buckingham (link) speak. Marcus was formerly a researcher for the Gallup Organization where he researched and analyzed the traits of leadership. We all received free copies of his third book, Go Put Your Strengths to Work. I haven't read this book yet, because I don't really know what my strengths are. So, I got Marcus' second book, Now, Discover Your Strengths.

In this book, he states that people and culture are obsessed with weaknesses, and do nothing with their strengths. So, his book goes into strength analysis - he generalized strengths into 34 themes and comes with an online test to determine what your 5 strongest strengths are. Mine turned out to be:

• Ideation
• Activator
• Responsibility
• Significance
• Self-assurance

For a description of each, look at this file.

So I'm an impatient, attention-hungry, cocky, dependable, and always coming up with crazy ideas. Hmm... sounds about right. :)

Envision 08

A few months ago, I was asked to judge a case competition for the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. At the competition, the school was advertising their upcoming entrepreneurs conference, Envision 08 (website). I thought it sounded interesting, so I decided to attend.

The conference was outstanding. We heard from some amazing speakers, including Stephen Covey, Guy Kawasaki, Peter Schultz, and Marcus Buckingham. Even better, I was surrounded by people, all entrepreneurs, chasing their dreams. It was awesome to be able to talk to people who were on their own, living their dreams. If you ever get the chance to go to an event like this, I highly recommend it!