GTD as Japanese Therapy- A CL Refresher
Well, I was a little disappointed with Merlin’s latest addition to the Getting Back to GTD series, not because it’s not a good article, but because it delves into a problem that I haven’t really experienced: Context Overload. I personally have only had at most, three or four context lists going at any one time, so subdividing my Next Actions into 30 or 40 context lists has not ever really been a problem for me. I’m still stuck on the “actually creating the context lists to begin with” problem. (Edited to add: a little bit of patting myself on the back–this is the second week in a row that I’ve started off Monday morning by doing a mind sweep and weekly review at Hob Knobb.)
So in lieu of that, I found a really excellent related article on the To Do Institute’s site. To Do Institute article on the Stress of Not Getting Things Done. It’s brief, and not exactly mindblowingly new information, but sometimes you just need to be reminded of that which you already know, KWIM?
While you’re there, if you’ve not dug into the Japanese-based therapy form known as Constructive Living, take a few minutes to poke around the rest of the site. It has a lot in common with GTD, but it takes a more overtly spiritual and therapeutic approach. Think of it as GTD for spirituality geeks. 
Creative Juice Smoothie
Everybody needs creativity. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living; if you’ve got problems to solve (and everybody does) then you need to keep your creative processes agile and fit.
Frankly, I think I’ve let mine get a little rusty lately; because I seem to be following the definition of insanity to the letter. Namely, thinking that the same approach used repeatedly will eventually net me a different outcome.
People, it doesn’t really matter if your problem is a story problem, a design problem, a programming problem or a relationship problem. (Or if you’ve had all four turn up in the same week.) Problem solving is a creativity issue.
So before those of you who think you aren’t “creative” click away, thinking “Well, then I’m screwed,” let me just say that everybody is creative. In different venues, in different ways, sure–but everybody has the capacity for creative endeavor. Ever used a butter-knife for a screwdriver? Congratulations: you’re creative. (And if you haven’t ever used a butter knife for a screwdriver, you’re either functionally-fixed like Chris; or you have an incredibly impressive toolbox that is always with you.)
But I digress.
So in the name of pumping up everybody’s creative muscles, I’m going to be digging up useful resources for creative fitness all through the month of August. Today’s entry: The Ball of Whacks.
So go give yourself a whack right now.
Basic Widget Tutorial
Since Kat (Jacobs, not me) seems interested, I thought I would put together a brief tutorial on the making of a Yahoo! Widget. Yes, folks, you, too can make a handy little application for the time-wasting enjoyment of others!
First, you’ll need to download the Yahoo! Widget Engine, and the Widget Converter. All Yahoo Widgets are made up of images (usually PNG files, for transparency), XML, and Javascript compressed into a .zip file. (Widget files are actually renamed .zip files.)   So if you’re familiar with the basics of XML/XHTML and have used enough Javascript to run a DHTML menu, you’re probably closer than you think.
First, figure out what you’d like your Widget to do. I started with something simple: a counter to the 3rd season of “House.” There weren’t any “House” season counters yet, and I knew it had a big fan following (including my husband, Chris.) If I’d stopped there, I could have had the thing done in a couple of hours. But I also wanted it to display funny random quotes from the curmudgeonly Dr. House.
I opened Photoshop, and created a background PNG image using a promotional pic of Hugh Laurie I found on a Google search. I made it 300 x 300 pixels, because that seemed like a good size.
When it looked the way I wanted, I went to Yahoo and downloaded two or three different Countdown widgets, and unzipped them using the Widget Converter. I opened up the XML and javascript files for them in Notepad, and just sort of nosed about in the code till I felt like I understood how they worked. Using the code from one of the simpler countdowns, I started editing it in Notepad to fit my purposes. I swapped out it’s background image for the one I created, changed the size of the window to 300×300, moved the text box for the counter to fit the area I’d marked on the background for it, and changed the countdown date to the date House season 3 starts.
So far so good. After that tweaking, I ran my “Housenator” folder, which contained the XML/Javascript file and the background image, through the Converter, which made it a Widget: my first “Beta” version. I tried opening it with the Widget Engine, and lo and behold, it worked. I had to play around with it a bit till the counter was positioned perfectly, but within a few minutes, the Beta was working.
Now came the harder part: the quotes. I had to take apart five or six different random quote Widgets till I found one that was simple enough for me to change to suit my purposes. I collected a list of House quotes from IMDB, and edited that list of quotes into a Javascript array to replace the array in the Widget I was cannibalizing. It took a few tries to get that to work.
Once I had two working Betas (the countdown Beta and the quote Beta), I started the trial-and-error process of getting both functions to work out of the same XML/Javascript file. After checking out the documentation for the Widget Engine, I noticed that Javascript would only perform one action that was triggered by “OnLoad”–so I changed the countdown Action to be triggered by “OnMouseover.”  I tested it as I went along by zipping the file in the converter and then trying out the resulting Widget.
When I finally had a working version 1.0, I submitted it to the Yahoo! Widget Gallery. They accepted it the next day, and by the first few hours, rabid House fans had downloaded it over 400 times.
If I can do it, pretty much anybody with a passing knowledge of XML and Javascript can do it. Happy coding!
Unresolved Anger and Uncle Joey
I just heard the live acoustic version of Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know,” which reminded me of an interesting and bizarre fact I learned in recent months. Alanis has admitted since its release that YOK was, in fact, based on one of her real-life relationships. Apparently, the most likely candidate for Mr. Duplicity?
Dave flippin’ Coulier. That’s right. The guy from “Full House” who did Donald Duck impressions is (most likely) the guy Alanis is singing about. Boggles the mind, does it not? I mean, Uncle Jesse I could see; John Stamos is legitimately hot enough to marry Rebecca Romjin. But Uncle Joey? It’s just hard to imagine a rock star getting that worked up about him.
Of course, I’m not entirely unfamiliar with unresolved anger myself; a fact that seems to be smacking the forefront of my brain with increasing frequency over the last week or two. How does one resolve unresolved anger? The fact that it’s still there, making one nauseous, half a decade or so later tends to indicate that it’s not going to go away on its own. Which brings up the whole question of the subject or subjects of your anger. Is there some kind of statute of limitations on having to account for (or at the very least, hear about) one’s less-than-stellar actions and poorer-than-acceptable judgments?
And what happens when the person who wronged you is a completely different person now? Or has done their best to make amends? Or is dead? Or locked up in a looney hatch?
And then there’s the matter of unfinished grief. If you’re grieving something or someone, let me just tell you–don’t put it off “till things settle down” or backburner it for the sake of those around you who are brittle as bone china themselves and need you to not crack first. Because then you’re left like me and Chris, crying (or choking back tears) in the breakfast meats section of Wal-Mart because you suddenly heard your loved-and-lost one clear as a bell in your head, saying “It’s Wright Bacon. Just remember, it’s the right bacon…”
When bacon brings a tear to your eye, or the sight of a particular Krogers makes your stomach tie up in knots, it is perhaps time to deal with some of those unresolved issues, people. Either that, or write a snarky top 40 tune that you will one day re-release as the “live and acoustic version.”
Blazing Saddles
You know what they say. When you fall off the horse, the important thing is to get back on. The excessively timely Merlin Mann of 43Folders has just recently started a new series on Getting Back into GTD when you’ve fallen off the wagon and back into the chaotic world of flying by the seat of your pants.
But, for whatever reasons of frustration, neglect, or (my favorite) “being too busy,†it’s not at all unusual to find you’ve slipped on your reviews, quit capturing, and basically let your little system fall into seemingly hopeless disrepair. And, I’ll bet you’re paying for it now, right?
Oh, yes, Merlin. I’m payin’ in spades. So I’ll be following this new series closely, breaking out my trusty Moleskine, makin’ my lists and checkin’ them twice. Because the thing about getting back into GTD, as opposed to getting into it the first time, is that you actually know how much better your life works when you’re doing it. How clear and agile your brain feels. How it frees up your creativity and just generally deletes that nagging sense of impending doom. It’s not an experiment in figuring out if you can really “get organized”–you know that it’s not even about being organized; it’s about saving your sanity and elevating to a whole ‘nother level in quality-o-life.
Come to think of it, I probably need to do a refresher course on a lot of the things I’ve learned in the last five years: the relationship tools, the lifehacks, the personality tweaks, all of it. So I’ll probably be documenting some of that “refreshing” here, for the interested.
Giddyup, Scout. Time to get back on the trail.
I.Want.My.Car.BACK!!!!!
It’s amazing how two days of being stuck at home with no transportation, thanks to a fried alternator, will affect one’s personality.
Fortunately, Chris managed to get the thing off last night, delivered to the place that rebuilds alternators this morning, will pick it up on his way home from work, and get it put back in this evening. But nobody was available to take me to work today (technically, Chris could have dropped me off if I hadn’t minded standing locked outside the office from 6:30 to 8:30 in the morning…) And I daresay my new employers are not pleased with me being absent two days in a row in my first three weeks. But there’s not really a great deal I could do about it.
Oh no you didn’t!!!! (Not you, the chick out my front window.) One of my “neighbors” just walked her stupid dustmop of a dog up to my lawn specifically so he could take a dump there! That is so wrong! If I wanted to clean dog leavings out of my lawn, I’d OWN A DOG!!!
See, this is why I should not be kept home during the day.
Widget Update
The Housenator has been accepted by Yahoo, and has been downloaded 442 times at last count!
If you want one of your very own, click here.
The Web Geek Pecking Order
You know, this thought has been floating about in my head for a while, but I figure since I am stuck at home today with a broken alternator, I would take the time to flesh it out into a post.
There is definitely a sort of heirarchy in the world o’ web geekery. If I had the time, I could probably come up with a sort of tree outline like brunching shuttlecock’s famous Geek Hierarchy. But this is the best that I can do on short notice and with little effort and thought applied. Please bear in mind that this is A JOKE…
Untouchable Caste: Those who own FrontPage and have figured out how to FTP. Sorta.
Sample: www.classictruss.com
This is a local, believe it or not fairly successful, company. It’s all there on painful display. The FrontPage “leaves” template. The animated gif that apparently serves no useful purpose. The use of butt-ugly horizontal rules to separate the two lines of actual content that exist on the homepage. I can ridicule it because I’ve designed worse when I first started.
Laborer Caste: Those who are actually proficient with FrontPage and know actual HTML.
Sample: www.hbasi.net
Okay, this is the local homebuilders’ association. You know these guys have enough money to get a better site than this. They’re using Comic Sans in the menu for crying out loud! Because, apparently, nothing screams “professional” like Comic Sans. And speaking of fonts, how many fonts can you cram into a single page? Did they run out? The graphic ads (which I’m fairly sure the sponsors paid for) don’t link to even an email address, so I suppose if you want to contact them, you have to hurry up and scribble their phone numbers down while the gif cycles through the animation…
Merchant/Artisan Caste: The Bread and Butter Coders
This is probably where I’m at presently. I’m not exactly setting the design world on fire, but I am capable of following basic design principles, like “don’t use 40 fonts on the same page” and “stick to a consistent, logical layout.” I’m at least pretty proficient with HTML and CSS, and with much cussing and minimal hair loss, capable of doing snazzy interactive things with Javascript and PHP. I can toss a few Flash objects into the mix, just to judiciously spice it up. Bread and Butter designers are competent, but not yet confident. They might aim for valid code, but if their back is against the wall and the client is persnickety, (or they’re out of pizza and beer money) they’ll abuse some table tags and engage in some Photoshop slicing to get the job done.
Warrior & Ruler Caste: Marketing and Advertising Firms
They have the power. They have the money. They have…still got table tags running their layouts and convoluted javascript powering their navigation systems. Beautiful and professional on the outside, but often a Byzantine maze in the source. You can’t argue with the success of conventional marketing firms that have adapted to include web work. Design and content is what they do, 24/7 and if they’re still in business, they’re pretty dang good at it. However, the devil is often in the details. The client now has a Blackberry and wants his pretty new site to be viewable on a WAP-enabled device? Say what? Holy crap! Back to the drawing board…
The Brahmin Caste: Standards Geeks
Throughout time and in all areas of devotion, there have been the idealists. The purists, seeking both inner and outer perfection, and to heck with pragmatism. These are the standards geeks. You say “Well, it works in IE.”? Bah! Fie upon you! Go unto the Temple of the W3C and do not return until thine code is free of validation errors! Ours is a house of devotion to accessibility, to semantic beauty, to the epitome of web geekery! We dare not stain our hands with your table tags!
Okay, I’m going a little overboard, but if you can’t poke fun at the caste you one day want to join now, while you’re a mere laborer/merchant/whatever, you’ll never get your chance, will ya?
Book Review: Story by Steven James
About a year and a half ago, Chris and I got to go to the Lillenas conference, a Christian drama, music and worship conference in Kansas City. It was a blast–we both learned a lot about the nuts and bolts, as well as the spiritual dimensions, of drama in the church. It spurred a lot of good ideas for both of us. But the neatest thing was getting to meet so many people who actually make their living writing and producing Christian drama. Torrie Martin, who wrote the Judge Mental series of sketches, was hilarious and adorable. The gang behind “Uncle Phil’s Diner” dinner theatre were smart and sharp. Chuck Neighbors and his improv group were amazing. And we also had one class together with a neat guy named Steven James, a professional storyteller and dramatist.
I’m a storyteller at heart myself, so Steven sort of stuck out for me. Well, imagine my surprise while walking through Wally World a couple of weeks ago and seeing one of his books in the book aisle. The cover art was so fetching, it caught my eye immediately–a black cover with what looks like the old Dewey Decimal system pocket embossed into it. Once I picked it up and read the back, I had to buy it.
From the Back Cover
Do you crave a faith that matters in the day-to-day?If so, professional storyteller Steven James claims that you need to go back to the very beginning and let God’s story untangle you.
Using the power of imagery and the drama of narrative, Steven leads you through a journey into the mystery of faith. From creation to Christ’s birth, from his first miracle to eternity and everything in between, you will see familiar scenes from the Bible like you never have before. They will wake you up spiritually. They will re-inspire your faith journey. They will jolt you into action.
Prepare for Story to unleash the powerful possibilities and passion of your faith, to give you a new look at the gospel and a new vision of God.
It’s really, really good if you’re looking for a fresh connection to God. James’ poetry is sprinkled throughout, along with observations that are funny, honest, and real. I finished it last weekend, and it’s definitely one that will be on my re-read stack.
In the event that you are boycotting Wal-Mart (or the book isn’t available at your particular Wallytopia), you can find it here on Amazon.
Widgets!
I discovered Yahoo’s Widget engine a few months ago, and have been playing around with different widgets on my desktop (the Picture Frame widget that pulls random pics from your Flickr account and puts it in a nice frame on your desktop, and the weather widget are particular favorites.)
I’d been wanting to try my hand at developing my own widget for a while, so this weekend I got started on one. I found a widget in the gallery which counts down to the next season of LOST. There were also several cool random quote generators. Well, Chris is a huge fan of Fox’s “House M.D.” which is just chock fulla quotable lines. So I created a widget that not only counts down to season 3 of “House,” it provides you with a “House-ism of the Day.”
Yes, it’s a complete waste of time. But it was a waste of time that gave me a little more javascript and xml practice, and it was one of the few webby projects I’ve worked on that Chris actually thought was relatively cool. I’ve submitted it to Yahoo, so if it get’s accepted, I’ll post a direct link here. If anyone is currently running the Widget Engine and would like a beta of the Housenator for their personal use, drop me a comment and I will slide it your way.
Here’s a sneak peak: Housenator Background
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