• Team
  • Question Collector
  • Archives
  • Categories
  • Archive for the ‘journal’ Category

    core values: peace, freedom, & fun


    2012 - 04.25

    Was driving back to the hotel, listening to fox radio talk. Impressed at the accuracy of their

    information and the utter lack of interpretation ability. In today’s political world everyone has a voice. I believe there are 7 distinct voices in the world.

    The reds seek security, they are afraid, they are easy to manipulate, and there are lots of them.

    The oranges are having a good time, they are drunk, prideful, and filled with lust, and there are lots of them.  Mostly do not vote.

    The yellows are smaller in number, but still numerous. They have few fears, and generally think everything is a joke. They aren’t “wrong”, but they have a skewed view, and aren’t always very accepting.

    The greens are growing rapidly and the reds are very worried about them getting into power.  They accept reality, they know the importance of family, friends, and cooperation. Logical. Neutral.

    The blues are around. Leaders, lovers, poets, sad sometimes, strong individuals who contribute to more than themselves. Generally not too interested in power. Love family.

    The purples are full of joy. They don’t always know what is going on, but they know how to care for their neighbor.  They seek beauty, harmony, and they ask lots of questions.

    The whites are monks.  They speak little. Peace is their “goal”.  See if you can decipher their Kōans

    Together we are a rainbow of emotional peoples.  Many of us live in multiple colors, depending on which emotions we are most comfortable with.  As usual, I’m going on about 7: colors, emotions, & peoples; as that is the basis of the rating system I will be putting into my product: the question collector.

    I have been focusing my life on being myself.  It hasn’t led to business success, but it hasn’t led to failure either.  I don’t give up, but I’ve got to be the slowest idea launcher in recent history.  ;-) Anyways, aside from my lame excuses, I’ve been enjoying my life.  My job is okay.  It does not thrill me, but it pays my debts and keeps me fed and my company lawyer paid. It is a huge distraction and takes me away from home and heart.  It also helps me support my local art community. This is why I am alive.  To support peace, freedom, and fun.

    I want everyone to know that I am doing well and am about to thrive in amazing new ways.  I have obstacles to overcome, but with the help of my friends, I know I can do it.

    Thanks for reading.

    name change complete


    2012 - 03.02

    i don’t have milestones, because i can’t carry big enough rocks alone, and i can’t afford hydraulics. if you are a tech worker in need of a life altering risk, I need Your HELP!! I only have equity to offer. Let’s talk.

    recent stepping stones:

    • name change complete, we are now Question Collector Inc.
    • happy executive leadership. feeling much more balanced.
    • website is not mobile friendly (working on a new splash page with less prezi)
    • advisers keep saying focus, another place I need Your help
    • consultancy going well, collecting points for future pitch vacations
    • quarterly bonuses paying down debt
    • paying for the “garage”, switching to sole title soon
    • paying for my education
    • paying for my past life
    • paying for my last relationship
    • i’m supporting my local art and business community by funding startup costs and being a good customer.
    • about to buy our first car. custom paint job? i think so.
    • dance work is progressing. root healing slowly
    • poetry is going well. rebellion under control?
    • making friends, who ask great questions! check out http://SocialEconomix.com or watch
    • annoying hero peers with tweet mentions
    • not asking for enough help
    • not hearing ‘no’ enough
    • buying a smart phone soon
    • remodeling the office soon
    • new email address and hosting soon
    • new screenshots soon

    Thanks for reading! Please sign up: http://www.questioncollector.com Peace

     

    our home office


    2011 - 09.24

    Drew again the devil today. Always inspires me to do something.

    Here is a short ad I just made for my friend who crafts and sells feather earrings. Check out her factory showroom.

    (more…)

    A new phase


    2011 - 07.16

    Income is rolling in steadily from the day job.  I’m working more closely with other entrepreneurs in Victoria.  I’m doing everything backwards, but I think it’s going to work.  Everyone I talk to about my current plans, gets it within 15 minutes.  I’m onto something, and I’m 110% positive.

    Going to clean up and get to work soon.  Can’t wait to find this magic partner anymore.  I suck at finding partners.  1 divorce due to sameness, 1 split due to fear, and that’s just my personal life.  I don’t talk to anyone who actually works in web development, who wants to take a risk.  I have a new friend who might help open some doors, but I have to prove myself to myself.  Why?  I still can’t figure that out, but I know it’s true.

    I like to think I do what I say I will do.  Being silent makes this fairly easy.  I’ve been working on the “design” of this sociopolitical game for years, without realizing any MVP prototypes.  I thought I needed a partner.  I probably do.  But I clearly have weaknesses, and making friends out of strangers, is it for me.  This may be an excuse.  Or maybe it is a subconscious strategy, all i know is I have to trust where I’m going and what I can do.

    The rest is destiny. or something.

    storytime: now and then


    2011 - 04.24

    i’m working my day job almost everyday now.

    i know i can do a better job of it. and so i am.

    for the first time in my professional career i feel very appreciated, trusted, and supported by the company i work for. which is great.

    i have a hard time explaining to people what i do, because they don’t use these products … ever.

    enterprise level ticketing, service catalog, change management, and process automation software, just isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. i understand it. i can figure it out. this makes me valuable. it feels good.

    so i work away the days. i take this break to write this post. i’m still learning everything startup. working my online pitch. getting no feedback. my next spare time company task is v2 of prototype screens for what i’ve finally boiled my MVP down to. still wondering when my co-founder or two will show up. i need to make more friends.

    speaking of friends … (more…)

    Heptogram Reading


    2011 - 01.02

    I created my own tarot reading format. Using the dual heptogram from our logo.

    My friend, at the tarot study group I joined, did an interpretation of my first set of cards, before I had time to do one. It was so good that I have never gotten around to doing my own.

    Unfortunately the group shut down.  I’ll write a my own someday.

    For a closer view of the cards.

    Re: invention


    2010 - 11.02

    “Invention is a creative process. An open and curious mind enables one to see beyond what is known. Seeing a new possibility, a new connection or relationship can spark an invention. Inventive thinking frequently involves combining concepts or elements from different realms that would not normally be put together. Sometimes inventors skip over the boundaries between distinctly separate territories or fields. Ways of thinking, materials, processes or tools from one realm are used as no one else has imagined in a different realm.” ~ Wikipedia

    I wanted to open with invention, because I am attending The Reinvention Summit; a virtual conference on storytelling.  My new friend Michael Margolis has been working his ass off to make this happen and I am proud to support his efforts. I also look forward to watching and hearing all the great presentations.

    (more…)

    quietly working


    2010 - 08.12

    I just finished this book called Agile Java Development with Spring, Hibernate, and Eclipse. I needed the refresher. I’m finally building something!  I’ve been thinking about my idea for eons (aka about 5 years).  I’ve been documenting features, use cases, database models, and fun marketing ideas for about a year now.  I’ve been trying to build an initial audience (videos, poetry, & blogging) around my personality and I finally have some fans. Yay! You guys rock!  I also worked on my presentation skills, business plan, investment spread sheets, implementation plans, and I founded the company.

    (more…)

    personal growth


    2010 - 07.05

    I am a being of light and shadow.  So are you.  People observe that light comes from the Sun and stars and shines on the Earth.  Too often we take this for granted.  After millions of years the light and energy that has gathered on this planet have been transformed into an amazing biosphere of energy beings.  While the source of life remains a mystery we can easily attribute our continued existence to the “original” energy of the thermonuclear reactions of the Sun.  The key is that light has become concentrated in us.  We feed on other energy beings and grow our light within.  We do this with the intention of shining it back out into the universe.  I think individually we are pretty bright, and collectively we are absolutely brilliant. We are so bright we are actually polluting the world with our brilliance.  Some people think this picture is a testament of our power, and they are probably right, but I think this picture is sad.  To me it shows how greatly we are wasting our light trying to “beat” the dark.  The key is we are beings of shadow and light, and to deny our darkness is a division that does not serve us.  We need to reach for a balance or our light may yet destroy us. (more…)

    the listening machine?


    2010 - 04.20

    I dug this out of my archive. I liked the pictures I used. Isn’t BC beautiful? Anyways, this is from a Toastmasters speech I gave in July 2009, and it covered some of the basic problems I’ve been approaching. I want to thank Victoria Beaver Toastmasters for cheering me on. They seemed to think I was going to be rich someday. I don’t know if they were right. I think I’m already rich and I sure don’t have any money. :-) I just want help building this thing, so I can play it and see if games really can change the world.

    I think I’ve done two full iterations of the design and talked to at least seventy-five people directly about it since then and most people are really enthusiastic. I’ve only had one person say it was a terrible idea on a blog comment, I asked him to find others to berate me and stop me from going ahead, but he said it would only take one person to stop a bad idea. Anyone else think that is slightly illogical? I want war to end. Did it work?

    I also want to thank Allen for coming up with this draft tweet for entry into a US contest I can’t enter. “Engage politically disenfranchised with online game which displays consolidated opinion and fuels sponsorship of political clarity #100KTwitch” It’s nice to know that someone out there is reading my blog and getting a clear picture of what it would look like to them. Any other enthusiastic readers interested in this game? I want to stress this is a text based game, not video, and not 2d graphical, but still a game with actions to take, an exciting ladder to climb with your friends, and nifty rewards to earn. I would love a set of comments saying “I am interested” or even better “I’ll do everything in my power to stop you, even if I have to do it alone!”.

    Love your enemies! Thanks for reading.

    progress happens


    2010 - 04.18

    It has been a long two weeks. Here is a summary of what has been happening for me:

    1) I got my first business card printed.  My moms think it’s super, except the text is a bit tiny for their eyes.

    2) I joined a Single Founders Mastermind community started by Taweed at his community site, Braintrust.io. It’s been helpful to have somewhere to share thoughts that is more focused than my blog. In fact it’s helping me revamp my blog to be more focused too, or at least I hope so. (more…)