A week or so ago, I was in San Francisco for some work. While there, Ami from On the Fly took me to Blue Bottle Coffee. I’m constantly on the lookout for a great cup of coffee and Blue Bottle didn’t disappoint. I can see why people rave about it.

I travel a fair amount which means I spend quite a lot of time in hotels. Many times I travel alone, so I have time to spend thinking. One thing that I’ve always thought about when staying in a hotel is how wasteful hotels are with their soap.

The majority of the time I come to a hotel room after the first night I find a new bar of soap in addition (or to replace) the bar I previously used in the shower. Now, that’s not my issue, although I don’t need that extra bar of soap. What I want to know is what they do with the used bar of soap after I check out? I imagine they throw it in the trash.

But here’s my thought (others have had it too). Why don’t we repurpose/reuse those soap scraps? I’ve actually looked into making my own soap in the past (I really want a peppercorn-based soap) and from my research it doesn’t seem all that difficult. In fact, it looks easier if you start with some soap pieces.

I went to bed last night thinking about this and have already come up with what I think is a scalable process for the soap production. Sourcing the soap could be an issue, but to my mind it’s as simple as getting a few hotel chains on board to collect the soap scraps while cleaning – have housekeeping put them in a bag rather than the trash – then collecting them. If I paid for shipping, I’m sure the hotel chain would give them to me.

Then, we’d obviously sell them. It’s green, sustainable, low-cost and we could add flavors/scents.

I already have a domain name, now just need some help…oh, and don’t think I haven’t already thought about shampoo, etc.

I finally got around to reading The Blind Side (it’s being made into a movie) by Michael Lewis. I wasn’t blown away like I was with Moneyball, but if you like Lewis’ writing (which I do) and sports (again, I do), you’ll enjoy this book. It follows the journey of Michael Oher (who was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft – wish the Bengals took him) and uses his story to demonstrate the importance of the Left Tackle in football, aka the blide side. Not a lot of quotables or anything, but the book left me with a real interest in finding out more information about Bill Walsh (his strategies, philosophy, etc) and the term “systematic opportunity”.

This underscores a fundamental truth to social media that many organizations underestimate–being social means having real live people who actively participate in your initiatives

Gym Jones has more on deliberate practice versus talent debate.

Real training means committing to the process: showing up at the keyboard or behind the lens or in the ring or on the rope, and doing it religiously, even when you’re tired, even when you’ve got nothing to say, even when it’s too cold, too hot, too hard.

People wish they had talent. They see it as a practice-free ticket to crowd-stunning skill. But talent doesn’t exist. “Talent” doesn’t get results; practice and devotion do

People who have dined with me will tell you that I am quite a fan of the hot dog. I typically try each and every hot dog stand that I pass. I even make them at home…quite often. Two ways I’ll be trying them are with spaghetti and in the form of an octopus (scroll to bottom). The spaghetti way makes an almost ideal way to eat a homemade 3-way (inspired by Skyline for all my Ohio friends), while the octopus is just a fun way to present a hot dog if you’re going sans bun.

One sunday morning a few months ago I was flipping the stations and The Christ Matthews show came on. During the broadcast, they mentioned something about Michael Sheehan, “…messaging guru and media trainer, Obama’s speech coach anddebate coach, to work with Geithner.” That blurb, along with “he does things like stand on your chest while you’re talking”, really got me curious about the guy. New York Magazine profiled Sheehan and how he turned Timothy Geithner’s presentation skills around.

He (Sheehan) has a glandular understanding of words, how they sound and what they mean, and teaches people, very effectively, how to deliver the words so that their bodies, their voices, and their overall appearances are emotionally consonant with the medium and the message. He has an unmistakable gift for wringing better performances out of his speakers, no matter how shy or introspective or simply not cut out for the public role they may be.

Every Sunday evening you can count on me watching 60 minutes. It’s a great show and recently I’ve realized that my favorite interviewer, Morley Safer, is one stylish dude. He routinely puts together some of the best shirt and tie (and pocket square) combinations.

In preparation for Wimbledon, let’s revisit the 2006 NY Times article by David Foster Wallace, Roger Federer as a Religious Experience.