Archive for September, 2011

friday quote: learning versus creating

It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life. — Barthold Georg Niebuhr Niebhur was a German statesman and philosopher in the late 18th/early 19th century, whose most well-known contribution is his “Roman History“ (shameless affiliate link, natch) . He’s probably not therefore that well-known, but his quote is excellent. [...]

rapid early acquisition of tech adaptability

What is “rapid early acquisition of tech adaptability”?  It’s a term I made up.  I haven’t yet Googled it to see if I’m ripping something else off, so for the time being I’ll keep it as my own term.  I’ll call it REATA because I’m not going to type that unwieldy phrase more than once. [...]

go out and brip it

I have to admit that I’m puzzled by the internet from time to time.  I’m no novice – I’ve been online since the headset-inserted-into-the-modem-receiver-with-the-screechy-noise days, but sometimes the craziness of it all amazes me.  I started getting some hits for ‘brip’ and found out that brip is a reference to a snowboard move: brip 1. [...]

would YOU take a pay cut?

In discussing contract consulting rates with two recruiters in the past, I was forced to face an interesting question – is a recession the time we should be willing to accept reduced rates (or salaries)? Can you justify making 66.67% of what you once made, just to keep making money?  Or is it better to [...]

foreign language immersion and links

The phone rang, and my stomach clenched when I heard her voice. “Daddy? I want to go home,” said my 8-year-old daughter, Arden. Two hours earlier, I dropped Arden and her two siblings off at their new school in a squat building in a forest of Soviet-era apartment blocks on Krasnoarmeyskaya (Red Army) Street in [...]

friday quote: self-education

Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. -Jim Rohn Rohn’s right.  Most of my formal education (a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a failed stint in math PhD school, then a successful unclassified accounting-major equivalency followed by a master’s degree in accountancy) helps me land consulting work via the old-fashioned [...]

just start

I don’t often blog about the business of blogging, but a conversation with a friend of mine and the reading of a blog post covering the same topic prompted me to share my opinion on building a successful blog. More specifically, the first step that is universal to all successful blogs: the author chose to [...]

my life up in the air

I’ve written about this before, but digging through my files I found my schedule from the early 2000s on a European business trip.  The headlong hectic nature of the trip is almost unbelievable to me today. Sunday  evening: Depart from New York, headed to Frankfurt. Monday morning (German time): Arrive in Frankfurt, go to hotel, [...]

9.11.11

As we near 9-11′s 10th anniversary… After you read this post (or before, it’s up to you) read the first article I wrote about 9-11 here… dark day. The two most recent articles I’ve written: dark days behind us, brighter days ahead and once again, forced to reflect on that day Last year I didn’t [...]

9.11.11 is an original article from the website brip blap.

is it a good idea to be a consultant?

  I don’t think anyone can prove this, but there’s probably a rising prejudice against the job description “consultant”. The reason is that as long-term unemployment becomes more and more common amongst professionals, many of them have started calling themselves consultants during their unemployed tenure. They don’t actually consult – they have no clients, they [...]

is it a good idea to be a consultant? is an original article from the website brip blap.

why we work, I’m on amazon, and links

Happy Labor Day.  It’s one of the most pointless holidays we have now, the celebration of labor in an increasingly labor-unfriendly economy; much like Thanksgiving, it’s been transformed into a celebration of consumerism through sales and quick vacations.  I’m as much a participant as I am a critic, so I don’t consider myself above it [...]

why we work, I’m on amazon, and links is an original article from the website brip blap.