Ericast 139 - Tidying my Identity

Following up from yesterday's UnSummit4 (www.unsummit.org) here in the Twin Cities and reflecting on the fact that we've flown through the month of June. Touching on personal branding with career coaching topics and my personal web site, with experiments into flavors.me thanks to Patrick Rhone. (Be sure to check out his Practical Opacity website!) Even a reference to WordPress 3 and its multiblogging options.

Overly-used word of the podcast: "quirky"

Also, discussion of my life mission or personal philosophy or whatever you call it that I... support learning. The introvert side of me keeps me from finding my energy and fulfillment in "people themselves". But I'm still excited by triggering or basking in the "lightbulb moments" of the people I help (touched on over at my blog's "Living the Lightbulb" post)

In case you haven't heard of it, my passing reference at the end of the last call is to Open Theism -- a very interesting theology to read up on but not one I'd necessarily endorse.

And, finally, the question of "information" vs. "meformation" -- the Ericast is heavy on the "meforming" side and, hey, you probably knew that.

But it's still a two-way street! Comments, as always, in verbal form to 206-339-ERIC (206-339-ERIC) or written form to me (eric) at ericast.com.

Reed Timmer's storm chasing video from Minnesota this month (the storms that passed a couple dozen miles to our north and south, sparing Eagan):

Ericast 138 - Small Town Mentality

An entertainingly provocative title for a podcast that has an endearing reflection on small-town life -- not romanticized, but realistic.

Wait. The reflection itself isn't endearing. Maybe it is; you tell me. I guess it's a rambling reflection on the endearing qualities of small-town life.

Why bring this up? Because for years I've questioned whether I should concentrate on a niche for this podcast (or for other chunks or my life) -- something like the "Church and Non-Profit Podcast" or "Insights on Learning Technologies" or such. But that kind of focus never resonated for me here, and I wonder if it's because my "formative teen years" were spent in a small town where nobody could afford the luxury of "specializing" in only one thing.

So, let me know what you think: is this a small-town thing, or just a "real-world thing" that might be a bit more visible in a small town, or neither, or both, or something else entirely. 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com

Ericast 137 - Prayer Inside Time

Two things in this podcast:

1) A freaky synergistic connection to last week's time-warp hometown experience, with this morning's sermon reference from Roger Thompson at Berean Baptist Church regarding the sequential nature of life and how prayer could ever possibly "work" with an omniscient God.

2) Non-stop interruptions from Candela and Chloe including references to lawn mushrooms and Lebanon Hills Regional Park.

Featured word: "Occasionally"

Closing song by Tim Lemmens

As always, comments of any and all sorts (impulsive ones, even!) are a simple phone call away: 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742). Or, for the textually inclined, send an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com. Or, for the social medians among you, send me something through Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn.

This week's conversation starters of angels and other supernatural topics are worth a phone call, no matter what your religious or spiritual persuasion!

Ericast 136 - Struggling with Memories

I think time-travelers would go crazy if they visited their past.

We're back from something of a stealth-vacation (fairly unpublicized on the InterWebs because of my dad's paranoia that someone was going to break into our empty house and steal... not very much...) and this week's Ericast deals with a really mentally disturbing phenomenon.

The memories themselves were great ones -- nothing to struggle with. But I truly felt as if I had stepped into a time warp when I visited my old hometown of Cornucopia, Wisconsin.

And it was an extremely... "disquieting" feeling. An "unnerving experience."

Driving home today, after having recorded the podcast, I explained it to Ruth this way: "I feel like I don't ever want to die, because I could spend a thousand lifetimes reliving those years... but I'm also realizing that 'living' is nothing but creating memories. The 'now' is really just composed of reflections on a series of personal 'thens'."

I was completely sober when I said that.

So what you might be privileged to hear in this week's Ericast is some form of mental breakdown in the making. I don't think that's the case... but, then, would one who's losing touch on reality really know that he's losing touch? Hmmm.

On a production note, if the background waves and crunching stones drive you nuts and you get frustrated that you can't hear me over noise, rest assured that I sit down on a peaceful rock at 4:30. So you don't even have to make it 5 minutes into the podcast and it gets much easier to hear. Also, this is another stereo podcast, so you can get the full stereophonic effect of me turning my head as I talk, walking next to waves, hearing seagulls fly overhead, etc.

Podcast recording location: 46.785773,-92.093282
Vacation location: Inn on Lake Superior

Comments or other memory-related things are more than welcome at 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC) or e-mailed to me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 135 - May? June? Whenever.

If it's the end of the month (which it is, in Ericast time, even though this is published in the early part of June, hence a title that artfully reflects the confusing nature of reality)... then it's listener feedback time!

206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) is where you, too, can add your voice to the conversation!

What's on desk this week? Well, for the benefit of "Olaf" (who liked the summary text), here's what we've got:

• Sincere thanks for listening!
• Summer is "fleeting by" and now it's June; I don't like that it's slipping by!
• Tweet! Google Buzz! Facebook me!
• Chad's May 25th comment about authorization prompts (akin to Gigavox/Podango or PremiumCast.com), frogs, and buzzwords
• Olaf's call about collaborative deep tagging (though he didn't know that it already had a... wait for it... buzzword!)
• Matt Beckwith calling in with a better headset and comments on the "brilliant episode" (#132) and the fight against complacency in customer support (plus learning about the logistics of big concert events)
• Jonzer on episode #131 about leadership and "plausible deniability" - boldly implementing your vision and blaming your underlings if your vision falls through
• Digital Dan Hook walking on his commute talking about his industry connection to Matt -- small world! Plus, a bonus call of consuming audio on the iPad vs. the Droid, and fireworks viewing
• Eric's odd tangent on SNL routines and over-the-top announcers
• Fireworks observation from the base of the Eagan water tower with views of displays dozens and dozens of miles away
• An anti-apology statement; "let's just celebrate who we are and where we want to be!"
• Chad on episode #133 (the "Fantasy Project"), hot-or-not, the hotness of normalcy. Plus, how we met our wives.
• Eric on the value (or lack thereof) of physical attractiveness in relationships.

Phew! I think that about covers it. Enjoy!