Archive for December, 2008

Since blogging about communication skills and other self-help topics seems to be such a popular activity these days, I thought I’d try it for myself.  Enjoy these:

6 Steps to Becoming a Better Office Communicator

1.  Be discreet

When making a personal call on your office phone, never mention co-workers by name.  It’s rude.  Use non-specific pronouns, instead.

Example: “Yeah, he did it again.  No, really.  I’ll tell you about it later… he might be listening right now.”  …or…  “You won’t believe what I saw her doing when I walked into the office this morning.”

2.  Acknowledge prior relationships with clients.

When you know you’ve got a client meeting coming up, pretend to answer a call on your cell phone.  As you walk into the meeting room, make a comment to your fictional listener that indicates the value of your relationship with the client.  They will appreciate the personal recognition.

Example: “I have to go; I’m about to have a meeting with _________. (pause as if listening) (explosive laughter) Yes, that one!”

3.  Reach out to newcomers.

Nothing is more isolating than being a new employee in an established firm.  When someone new comes to your workplace, be sure to welcome them as a friend.

Example: “Hey, new guy, come be my lookout while I raid the manager’s supply cabinet.”  …or…  “So she’s your new supervisor?  Wow, I hope that goes well for you.  Feel free to come to me if you need to vent.”

4.  Respect your elders.

Older and more experienced employees in your office have a wealth of information to share with you.  At the same time, however, they may not be current in the cutting-edge pop culture that you might mention in conversation, and that might make them feel uncomfortable.  When chatting with someone at least a decade older than you, remember to explain references to recent (post-MTV) cultural phenomena.

Example: ”This day is so bad, it’s like a Seinfeld episode gone wrong.  Seinfeld, if you didn’t know, is a New York-based sitcom about the fictionalized life of its eponymous starring actor, Jerry Seinfeld, and a number of his friends and relatives.  It’s pretty funny.  You should try it.”

5.  Leave them wanting more.

Don’t dominate — and ultimately destroy — the conversation by spewing out every thought you have in your mind.  Leave some topics of discussion for later.  One especially effective way to do this is by approaching the conversation by saying, ”I have (X number) questions to ask you” or “I have (X number) things to tell you”… and then leave one unsaid.  For the rest of the day, they will glance at you with an expectant and slightly uncomfortable look on their faces, wondering whether they should ask.

Example:  See above.

There you go, that’s it.  I hope that these six steps will lead you toward more efficient communication in the workplace.  Please note that I am not responsible for problems caused by the application or misapplication of the above advice.  Have a happy Monday!

P.S. Thanks (and apologies) to DeepFriar and Havi Brooks for unwittingly planting the seeds of this post in my mind.  Go read their posts; you’ll probably enjoy them more than you did mine.

We could ask him, but...

What a week this has been… “devouring time” has indeed seemed to feast on the hours and minutes of the last seven days.  So, here we are once again with Shakespeare Saturday.

One constant source of heated debate and controversy regarding Shakespeare is speculation about his love life.  It is known that he was married, probably to legitimize his bride’s pregnancy (their first child was born about six months after vows were exchanged).  He probably also took another woman as mistress for some time later in his life.

Some of Shakespeare’s poetry suggests an additional liaison.  Many modern readers and critics believe that the Bard had a romantic relationship with another male, and Sonnet 19 is one of a number of sonnets which apparently indicate this.  Another school of thought argues that Shakespeare may merely have been expressing strong but friendly affection; another argues that the sonnets’ speaker (their “I” and “me”) might not represent Shakespeare himself; yet another leans toward the familial-love interpretation I briefly mentioned when I discussed Sonnet 18.  As any one person’s opinion is potentially as well-founded as any other, given the few clues available, I invite you to decide for yourself as you read:

Sonnet 19

Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion’s paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,
And burn the long-liv’d phoenix, in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,
And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:
O! carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow,
Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;
Him in thy course untainted do allow
For beauty’s pattern to succeeding men.
    Yet, do thy worst old Time: despite thy wrong,
    My love shall in my verse ever live young.

What I get out of it

The God of Passing Time

Shakespeare’s poetic speaker addresses him- (or her-) self to an animated and malicious “Time.”  Time works destruction on everything in the universe.  It “blunt[s] the lion’s paws” and “pluck[s] the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,” rendering these fearsome predators ineffective in their old age.  It brings an end even to the ever-renewing life of the “phoenix.”  It forces the “sweet brood” of living creatures to be devoured by — figuratively, buried in –”the earth” that spawned them.  The seasons themselves are born (made “glad”) but then die (make “sorry”) as Time touches them.

Shakespeare’s speaker acknowledges this and accepts it — but one act is unacceptable and unforgivable.  Time must not ever commit the “heinous crime” of bringing age and ruin to the young man about whom the poem is written.  Fearing that Time will “carve” wrinkles into ”my love’s fair brow,” the poem’s speaker pleads for Time’s mercy.  “Draw no lines,” the speaker begs, in the young man’s face; ”allow” his “untainted” beauty to be appreciated by others.

The sonnet’s closing couplet, however, turns defiant.  “Do thy worst,” the speaker sneers, “my love shall in my verse ever live young.”  As with Sonnet 18, the poem is a memorial, a way for the poem’s object to live eternally young and attractive, thanks to the poet’s homage.

Is it relevant?

The short answer is, “yes.”  The long answer depends on your decision regarding Shakespeare’s intentions when writing this sonnet.

If Shakespeare is writing this to a romantic interest (either a real one, or an imagined interest of the poem’s speaker), the relevance lies in the fact that we always want our lovers (and ourselves) to remain as young, fit, and attractive as they were when first we met them (even though age may not lessen the love or desire).

If Shakespeare is writing this to a close friend, he may be empathizing with the young man’s fears of growing old, either because Shakespeare shared those fears or had already realized them.

Finally, if Shakespeare writes Sonnet 19 to his son or another relative, he may simply be echoing every father’s desire for his young descendants to remain children forever.

For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.  But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. — Wisdom of Solomon 4:8-9

(Grave: Photo Credit and License; Statue: Public Domain)

Sweet.

…crazy birthday, dear Aylad, crazy birthday to me.

This is, without a doubt, the most insane birthday I’ve ever had.  It is also the most special.

My beautiful, thoughtful, loving wife remembered that several weeks ago I was complaining that I wanted to play Guitar Hero II, but couldn’t afford the guitar controller… so this morning, as soon as breakfast was finished, she couldn’t wait any longer to give me a suspiciously guitar-shaped package and a game-case-sized gift bag.

She really is perfect. (more…)

My fingers itch...

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning.

My name is Aylad MacOdys…

Hello, Aylad.

…and I’m a gamer.

Thank you, Aylad, for sharing.

It’s true, I am.  I’m not a “serious gamer” or a “hardcore gamer” or what-have-you, but I would definitely spend hours each day playing video games if I didn’t have other, more important things to do (and a sweet, beautiful wife who knows there are always more important things to do).

Gaming is not my only pastime, by any means.  I’m also a reader, and recently a blogger, and I enjoy web design, and I occasionally like to indulge a bit of creativity in less digital realms.

Sooner or later, however, “the itch” finds its way into my head, and once there, it grows.  And grows some more.  And spreads.  And soon, I am back in front of one electronic device or another, pressing buttons and waiting for the satisfaction of completed goals.

Don’t listen to people who say that gaming is addictive.  They don’t know what they’re talking about.  Cocaine is addictive.  Gaming is GAMING. (more…)

First Edition

A friend gave me a book of Shakespeare’s Sonnets as a wedding gift last week (along with books of poetry by two of my other favorites, T.S. Eliot and Langston Hughes).  Gifts that are both thoughtful and personal are quite difficult for me to pick out… so I try to always give kudos when someone else gives me one.  Thanks!

After discussing the repetitive themes of Sonnets 1-3, I decided to skip ahead a bit.  My good friend, a Mr. Wiki Pedia, informs me that the first 17 or so sonnets share a common message… so, in my search for variety, I hereby skip to:

Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st,
    So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

What I get out of it

(more…)