Professional and Personal Passions
July 4th may very well be my favorite holiday of the year. The passion with which our country celebrates our independence is always exciting. Sure – we may sometimes be too cocky, too proud, or generally too loud, but I wouldn’t trade my heritage for any other in the world.
So without further adieu – stay safe this weekend and be sure to do something incredibly American!
Til Next Time,
Michael
I’m going to do a running series (let’s be honest, maybe once a month) with travel industry superlatives, such as bests/worsts for hotels, airports, cities, etc. I will start with “Airport Worsts”. Polled a few friends and aggregated our favorite airports to hate on and nominate “worst” for various reasons. I’m pretty impressed with the list. What do you think? Any other ides of certain hubs that miserably fail at rather basic things (food, security lines, etc)?
Detroit – Worst underground people mover experience
New York (LaGuardia) – Worst gate layout/departure schedule
Til Next Time,
Michael
Clearly the World Cup has handicapped my ability to write new blog posts nearly as much as I intend to way-back-when. Sorry about that. It’s ok though – this too shall pass and we’ll soon be in the summer lull with no sports (aside form midseason baseball, whoopee). In the mean time, though, the boys in Red/White/Blue play today and I couldn’t be more excited. I am actually in Scottsdale for work although I am taking some impromptu PTO hours to make sure I can watch the game!
I believe that we will win!
Til Next Time,
Michael
Found a great article the other day that talked about mistaking confidence for extroversion – and how introverts can actually be great leaders. I’m always fascinated by personality types and trying to see what fits where, so I wanted to forward along to see what you think.
Why Introverts Make Great Leaders
Til Next Time,
Michael
Again – I know it’s not a work post – but I wanted to give a quick nod to specialty cocktails. I know it’s not a recent trend by any means, but I do think the support for them has been heating up of late. I’m pretty sure mixologists have only existed as a profession for a couple years now (previously – they were just called good/creative bartenders, no?). Either way, figured I’d share a post from my buddy’s site which gives some props to his specialty cocktail for the World Cup: the Caipirinha.
Til Next Time,
Michael
The day is finally here! The United States will kick off its quest to get past the Group of Death at 6 PM today. The optimist in me believes firmly that we have a chance to make it out of the group stage and do some damage in the knockout stage. The realist in me understands that we are probably not quite there to stick around til the end this time…
Either way – I’m pumped and can’t wait to cheer on the boys in red/white/blue!
Til Next Time,
Michael
As I’ve mentioned previously, the blog may take on a bit more of a sports theme than normal in the near future. Sorry I’m not sorry. This weekend is actually huge for sports – World Cup, US Open, College World Series, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup, among others… Wow. Might not leave my couch for 3 days straight.
Regardless, I’m happy to announce that, as of yesterday, we’re off the races for the World Cup! I’ll be cheering for USA and the Netherlands (and maybe Spain once those picks lose). What about you?
Til Next Time,
Michael
One of my favorite Onion articles of all time – reminding us that, despite popular belief – it’s still only Tuesday. Given that this is the Onion, you might want to watch out for some foul language in case that sort of thing can get you in trouble. Otherwise, I’m sure you will enjoy it!
Til Next Time,
Michael
Beats by Dre (cough, cough, Apple) has just released a short film promoting Beats headphones and soccer. I’m always amazed by marketing campaigns like this. They must be extremely costly to produce, but are usually extremely entertaining. No idea if this drives real ROI for them – but I must say I do love them. This one especially has some very intricate details and you can tell it was a chore to produce. Again – I’m sure this is only one of the first of many soccer-related posts this World Cup season (sorry I’m not sorry)…
Til Next Time,
Michael
My good buddy alerted me that it was foolish to write a post on office coffee courtesy without giving a nod to one of the greatest YouTube’s of all time: TERRY TATE – OFFICE LINEBACKER. I think Terry may deserve his own series of posts on my site. He is truly a gem.
Turn your speakers down, beware of some foul language, and enjoy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWjEZDBawo
Til Next Time,
Michael