Chuck Klosterman writes one of my favorite sentences I’ve read in a while, and one I dream of having someone write about me. Please substitute my name for Stephen Malkmus.

At this moment, Stephen Malkmus looks so much like Stephen Malkmus that it seems like sarcasm. In fact, he looks like someone playing Stephen Malkmus in an ill-conceived Cameron Crowe movie (…)

I’ve gotten pretty into curling this Olympics (here’s a rules cheat sheet) . This morning I was thinking about curling in the shower (weird, yes) and it dawned on me that I should start an outdoor curling club. I’ve got access to a frozen lake (and house to warm up between games), so equipment and people are what’s needed. Anyone interested? I’m thinking we do a weekend tournament. It may be better to do it next winter, but I’m dead serious. I’ve already located where to buy stones and brushes.

If you’re interested in The Grateful Dead and/or Business (Internet) Models, I’d suggest giving Management Secrets from The Grateful Dead a read. I am amazed at how well thought out and progressive The Dead were about their business.

WHEN I write my first book – something that meshes/dissects the cross-hair of personal branding and individual style? – I will have my table of contents mirror Seth Godin’s in Linchpin.
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Here are some techniques for brewing your hotel room cup of coffee better. News to me is the tip on filling it with water the night before.

A twenty-degree difference between newly drawn tap water and room temperature will result in nearly a twenty degree increase in brewing temperature.

What I usually do is “double brew”. This means I brew a pot, then pour the brewed pot as if I’m starting from the beginning.

I’ve been pretty fascinated with curling during this Winter Olympics. I don’t really understand it, but think I’d enjoy playing. So it was nice to see my friend Kevin Cooper post this Curling Cheat Sheet that has helped me understand the game (sport?) better.

Tracy Morgan has officially made my “if I see his name, I’ll read/watch/listen to whatever it is” category. This Esquire interview with him has me grinning from ear-to-ear. It may be because I read the entire thing, aloud, in my best Tracy Morgan voice. My favorite quote (and one I plan to use frequently):

Naw, they love my body. I’m a sex symbol. Some women love it like this — that’s all steak and potatoes right there.

Two DIY-able items here. First, the old cabinet door re-purposed as a serving tray. Second, the carafe wood stopper. The serving tray seems like an easy thing to do. The wood stopper may be a bit more difficult, but would be a nice touch to a wine carafe. Thinking I’ll be on the lookout for a piece of wood to carve and sand down.

A broad stripe apron signifies a master butcher. A lone broad stripe indicates the butcher works without any form of apprenticeship. A broad stripe accompanied by a thin line signifies the butcher trained through a five-year apprenticeship. Three stripes symbolise the master is training apprentices. The Butcher’s Guild, an association of butchers which began around the 10th century determined the apron’s colour. Called Butcher’s blue, it’s the colour of the Butchers Guild’s crest and, coincidentally, the best colour to conceal stains.

Those aprons butchers wear used to have meaning. No longer is an apprenticeship of 7 years required and therefore the stripes on the aprons are losing the meaning. Too bad really. I’d like to see the meaning come back to the aprons and the training of a craft to come back to practice.

Also, if anyone has a visual of what the aprons looks like please pass it on.

Mike Arauz knows digital strategy. Here’s an old excerpt I’ve had bookmarked for a while that I finally got around to re-reading. I’m posting the parts I want myself (and my clients) to remember.

Digital strategy should be a continuous and iterative process, informed by a steady flow of measurement and used to guide tactical adjustments in pursuit of the client’s primary online objective.

This thought was taken from Gavin Heaton’s two excellent posts last week about digital strategy.

Continuous Digital Strategy

Strategy is an ever-evolving process which is revisited across the lifecycle of any project. …each of these steps are to be touched on in rapid iteration in the planning, execution/implementation and evaluation phases of any project.

Strategy Drives Decisions

It is easy to think that once you have set your strategy, that a button is flicked and that the focus switches to execution/implementation. But this is rarely the case….The are always, always, competing priorities – and what may appear to be strategically necessary one day will be out of favour the next. This is frustrating, time consuming and expensive for all involved. The opportunity, however, is to focus on a flexible approach to strategy – and this means using strategy not as a way of aligning messaging or building a campaign or a brand. It means using strategy to drive decisions.