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Move in Progress

I'm in the process of transferring this blog to what appears to be the far superior blogging interface, WordPress. This is perhaps the first time in history that a company has done something better than Google, but it's true.

What does this mean to you, fair reader? Very little. The domain, www.jameystegmaier.com, will remain the same (just give it a day or two), and all past posts and comments have already been moved to WordPress (temporary page: http://jameystegmaier.wordpress.com/). Updated: Now it's http://jameystegmaier.com. 

The one really important thing to know is that if you subscribe to my blog through RSS feeds or a reader like Google Reader (use Google Reader!!!), you'll need to change your feed info. The new feed should be http://jameystegmaier.com/feed/, but you should probably check WordPress in a day or so to make sure.

I've come to believe that WordPress is the way to go--it's really easy to post comments there, are there are some cool utilities to make the blog prettier and more interactive, plus somewhat more professional looking.

Thanks for your support and understanding, and I hope the transition to WordPress is as easy for you as it was for me.

Jamey

Management Tactic #2: Run Your Meetings Like Obama

I'm the first to admit that I'm not great at running meetings. I'm supposed to facilitate bi-weekly meetings at my current organization, but all I really do is create the schedule and then let people talk for two hours. I don't like to cut anyone off or put words in anyone's mouth, and as a result, the extroverts talk a lot and the introverts say very little, and we end up rushing to finish at the end because we don't stick to time limits. I take full responsibility (which, by the way, is a future management tactic: Taking Full Responsibility).

Today I read an article in the New York Times about President Obama's management style. Here's how our current president, the leader of our land, runs a meeting (and presumably, how you should also run a meeting):

1. Frame the questions you want answered.
2. Give each person a chance to speak.
3. Engage each person and ask questions.
4. Sum up what you've learned and heard.
5. Indicate the direction you're leaning.

I would only add that a meeting faciliator should also clarifiy and delegate who will actually be implementing the decisions made during the meeting. Meetings are for brainstorming and making decisions, not for making things happen.

Lesson Learned: When faciliating a meeting, be specific about what you want to get out of the meeting, listen to the people you trust, show them you really did listen by repeating what you heard, and then tell people what you decided. That's how to run meetings like a leader.

See Also:

Seven Traits of Highly Effective Leaders

Management Tactics #3 and 4: Shame and Fear

Management Tactic #8: Compassion

Management Tactic #14: Dolphins

Management Tactic #22: Alcohol

Management Tactic #29: Geriatrics

Pet Please #1: The Box That Smiles

A friend of mine and frequent commenter, Bob, suggested to me today that I balance out the pet peeves I discuss on the blog with occasional mentions of life's little pleasures and surprises. He has a point--if you look at the list of tags on the right side of the screen, newly sorted by frequency instead of alphabetically, you'll see that I have 15 tagged posts about pet peeves. I complain and criticize a lot, sure, but I also like to think that I notice some of the idiosyncrasies that make life so amazing.

Problem is, there's no antonym for "pet peeve." Thus, I'm coining a new term: a pet please. A pet please is a little joy in life, a little pleasure. Pet please entries will be short and sweet, because they're better experienced than read about.

Thus, without further adieu:

Pet Please #1: The Box That Smiles

Coming home to a loving pet or significant other is a great joy. But perhaps even greater is being greeted at the door not by a person or a cat, but rather by an unexpected Amazon.com package. There's something so purely happy about the Amazon box--that simple smile on the side, the unmarked packaging hiding the mystery of the contents. It's a corrugated treasure chest, delivered right to your door. Nothing beats that.

Newsflash: Jamey Stegmaier Announces He'll Never Run for Public Office

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- In a sparsely attended press conference Monday, Jamey Stegmaier (cat, Camry, and home owner) announced that he will not be running for public office. Ever.

"Never say 'ever'," Stegmaier read from his statement.

The move contradicts earlier speculation that he might someday consider running for public office, or at least that he hadn't ruled out the possibility.

Reporters peppered Stegmaier with steak seasoning and questions about the chance he might reconsider.

"I'm not pulling a Jordan. I'm not pulling a Favre. When I say with 100% certainty that I will not be running for public office, I mean it," said Stegmaier.

When asked why he was eliminating the possibility, Stegmaier replied, "Have you seen the photos of me on my blog? Iron Man? Batman? 3D Stegmaier? Farmboy Stegmaier? I wouldn't survive a minute in politics."

Stegmaier ended the conference by putting on his Iron Man costume, making whooshing sounds, and "flying" out of the press room.

Copyright 2009 The Ass Press

Driving on Revolutionary Road in a Gran Torino

I saw two movies this weekend, both of them quite good. Below are my reviews.

Gran Torino

Rating (out of 10): 8

Good: The movie is mainly a character study of ageless Eastwood, a man who knows death but not life, but there's just enough plot to keep you wondering what's going to happen next. The movie is surprisingly (and intentionally) funny, funnier, in fact, than many movies that bill themselves as comedies.

Bad: The acting of some of the younger actors is below par. This is made all the more noticeable by Eastwood's ability to convince you that in real life he's exactly the same as his character on-screen.

Favorite Scene: The scene where Eastwood teaches "Toad" how to talk like a man. I think I learned a few things by watching that scene.

Revolutionary Road

Grade: 8

Good: The movie really made me think about life and choices and family and kids, and it provoked a great discussion. It employs a great device, the "idea of Paris," that cannot help but move you.

Bad: Although the writing is very good, there are a few lines/scenes that are a bit stilted and forced. Disappointingly, Winslett does nothing with these lines but makes them worse. She's a good actress, but a great actress would have made something of even the most ho-hum of lines. DiCaprio is fantastic, though. Also, the movie is in no way a comedy, but the audience didn't seem to get this during several pivotal scenes. Perhaps that's the audience's fault, but some blame should be placed on Mendes' shoulders as well.

Favorite Scene: After DiCaprio and Winslett deliver the news of Paris to their friends, they laugh about their reactions and then talk and kiss...you truly felt like you were watching two people connect for the first time in a long time. For that one scene, I almost felt ashamed to be a fly on the wall during such intimacy.

Best Cookie-ing Tip Ever

I just learned this last night: If you have a batch of chocolate chip cookies that your sister made for you and they're a little too crisp, put them in a freezer bag with a piece of bread overnight. When you wake up, the bread will be hard, but the cookies will be as soft as when they came out of the oven. It really works. It's pretty amazing.

In related news, my friend over at Judicial Peach recently posted an entry about how to make your own vanilla extract. Who knew that vanilla came from a plant? And that it takes so much work to take it from the plant and put it in little bottles?