Monday, November 24, 2008




Thanksgiving Week
Super Break

Very nice, easy drive up to PA for an extended break from... pretty much everything. Promised myself 40-60 minute walks/other kids of physical activity to keep the ol' bod in check, without the rigors of the usual 5 a.m. wake up call. Brought my P90X discs and a weight band in case the bug bites, we shall see. Timed a break for this week in any case.

Crossed into PA and immediately saw 1/2" to 3/4" of snow in the shady spots. Very cool. Leaves are down, snow on the ground, and upon landing at Kinyon Manor, made a roaring fire in the ol' fireplace. Oooh yes, it's cold in PA, but life *can* be pretty darn good.

Off to Kinyon Manor V2.0 outside Allentown for a few days. Will be great to let Will crash with his five (yes, 5) cousins and his Uncle John and Aunt Claire.

Enjoy your holidays, no matter where you call home.

Friday, November 21, 2008


Round 4 Week 4
Fri.: P90X Wishful Thinking

Elton John -- yep, we've all heard of Sir Elton. Crocodile Rock. Candle in the Wind. The list of -- let's face it -- really good songs goes on and on. How many of his albums have you purchased in your lifetime? (Me, probably 3? 4?)

Yesterday evening, I learned something new about Mr. John. Will and I (along with about 25 other Cub scouts from Pack 218) got a truly in-depth backstage tour of the RBC Center. Watched some Carolina Hurricanes come into the building/workout on the ice with their kids...

Saw the locker rooms, the $5,000 and $3,800 seating areas (that's for one season -- $5K Lexus area gets you VIP parking, every hockey game and unlimited food and a leather seat, $3.8K gets all the games, pay for your own food, slightly less-good seating, BUT a personal little 15" TV you can view to watch the basketball/football games or (Will sez) Spongebob -- at the same time as the live hockey game. Will post some photos when I get 'em.)

Also got some stories from the staff about other events:

1. Elton John's personal assistant fixes up his dressing room before every show. It includes unpacking several cases of bobble heads. Yes, bobbe heads (BH's).

BH's his fans have given him. He loves them -- both -- fans AND BH's. He can't part with a single one.

After his assistant unpacks the cases -- custom so they don't break the BH's, etc. -- he -- get this -- MUST make all of their little heads bounce. So he and this staffer giving our tour proceed to go around this room and make all the heads BOUNCE.

Elton walks in -- sees all the little heads bouncing -- declares, "That's good work. Good job."

Love... it.

2. Next story -- Neil Diamond. Again, little older demo this time, but... there it is. Great songs. Great performer.

He gets his people to call ahead before he gets to the stadium. They're alerted. All the staff MUST stop what they're doing, turn to face the wall, and wait till Neil gets into his dressing room, and his people call out an "all clear, back to work."

Facing... the... wall... while this guy feels the breeze from Neil as he passes by.

Best, stories, ever.

BTW: Most gracious performer? Dolly Parton. Goes around asking the staff if they want photos with her, always with a kind word, very outgoing. Nice.


Thursday, November 20, 2008


Round 4 Week 4
Thu.: P90X Yoga X

Nice truck, no? This guy is bringing it in his home, and when he's on the road... P90X. Oooh yes.

Yoga today. Came into the hour+ with some pretty good sleep, some energy, and a focus on breathing. Came out with tons of energy, some earned sweat, and a very limber bod. Almost think doing Yoga 3-4 times a week as a recovery phase would be incredible. I can see why some folks swear by doing Yoga pretty much on its own as a routine -- lots of yoga bodies out there.

Getting excited for Thanksgiving, seeing some family I haven't seen in many months, etc.

Keep pressing play out there, people...



...the first few tries with your P90X discs may look and feel like the above.

Give it time.

You will master the moves. You will see results. I promise.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Roomba + Cat = Slow ride... take it easy...




Round 4 Week 4
Tue.: KillerAbs & P90X Plyometrics
Wed.: Walkies & More?


Tony, Tony... I know. "On Tuesday. Tim. Why the heck didn't you do P90X+ Intervals Plus, brotha?" Well... heck. Tony, I think Intervals = not intense enough. I wanted to put myself through the wringer on the biggest cardio day of the week, so first the killer combo of Ab Ripper AND Ab Ripper Plus in the One on One, then a solid Plyo workout. New sweat city, lots of calorie burn. Nice.

Busy, busy week in ProQuest land. Lots of new things to tell customers about, other marketing divisions tapping into my video production background, and it's all fun!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Advising Obama with ProQuest @ YouTube



The podcast version of our full new video from ProQuest -- worth a watch! Direct link to the FULL video series, about 30 minutes, is here.

Monday, November 17, 2008


Round 4 Week 4
Mon.: KillerAbs & P90X+ Upper Plus

Busy weekend, lots of birthday parties for Will, a Den meeting (Where I Live theme), some football, and a nice dinner out for eight of us who attend Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian. Some homemade chili for the dinner win, some conversation, and Deb's crazy-stacked cake w/fruit and pudding center. Yum.

Speaking of food... end of my weeks lately have been a bit limp. So, here we are -- Week 4, and I'm treating it as Week 3. All over again, to build muscle, reduce some fat. I still see this spare tire standing in the way of the final phase of my fitness journey.

Wish me luck -- new week, lots on my plate. First up, videos to FLV so folks can download them from proquestk12.com, then lots more. See below for our new Obama video series -- worth a watch if you have kids/teach them.


Friday, November 14, 2008

Advising President Elect Obama | Using online resources

Yes we can -- with the proper information and wise guidance, our kids can help President Obama come into office ready to lead. With a little help from some deep, quality research information and a little guidance from ProQuest's Adam Blackwell, this short video series turns today's students into tomorrow's advisors to POTUS.

read more | digg story

Round 4 Week 3
Fri..: KillerAbs & P90X+ Upper Plus

Pretty great week coming to a close -- good workouts (rested yesterday, blah), fun to have William home during his track out (still like year round schools), and a semi-relaxing weekend ahead.

On top of all that, my hard work on the old lawn is paying big dividends. For the first time since moving into this house, I can look at my backyard and see grass... everywhere. No unsightly gaps/scorched earth. Front yard is coming along as well, and some nice rain this week is helping things out nicely. Feels good.

See above for the product of one of my labors this week -- an interesting video series that shows how students can become advisors to President Elect Obama using our ProQuest research solutions. Worth a watch, you might learn... a lot... thanks to Adam Blackwell, our World Conflicts Today product manager. Smart cookie. Great script. I tried to do it justice.

Enjoy your Friday/weekend.

On the gaming front, I've moved on from Dead Space (three complete playthroughs on Easy/Hard/Impossible and I STILL wouldn't mind playing it again) to GTA IV. Liberty City is starting to feel real to me, not all that far in, and my biggest comments -- I can run every red light with cops nearby without fear, cause many traffic accidents, but no big deal... And the best feature? The radio in the car. Flip around, listen to the hilarious ads on all those channels whilst playing missions. I'll bet it took just as long to make the back end of the game as it did to record those audio spots... no lie.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

If the Matrix ran on Windows XP...



On Gay Marriage & Prop 8


Round 4 Week 3
Mon.: KillerAbs & P90X+ Upper Plus
Tue.: KillerAbs & P90X+ Intervals Plus
Wed.: P90X+ Total Body Plus


Mon.: What a great weekend just past -- Deb and I did some serious house cleaning on Saturday, which led to a crazy-fast and whirlwind 7th (yikes) birthday for William with nine energetic little guys in our home. Spongebob made an appearance (balloons, table cloths, all the rest), and after some fun games and ice cream cake, the 1:30 was over in a flash.

Back to work Monday morning, workout was nailed for a little over an hour. Really enjoying the Killer Abs from the One on One series to replace (and fuse) the original Ab Ripper and Ab Ripper X rountines into one 20 minute crazy stretch. Then on to the Upper Plus... yikes.

Tue.: Still need to get it through my thick skull that MORE food going into this Plus routine will likely be necessary to keep up my flagging energy levels.

Wed.: Total Body was pretty insane today/Wed. -- love the pull up move, then bring my knees to the bar, ALL the way down, then back UP/knees to bar, 5 reps, then 5 more reps. Woah. Burny burn.

Got a wonderful call last night -- suffice it to say, it's always welcome news to hear from dear family and friends when they're blessed.

Between a new president we can all look up to/feel positive about, and hearing such great news last night, the recent bleak headlines are blurred into the background.

That supreme being watching out for us sometimes makes his presence known in our lives in a very direct way -- or two.

Or three. These things always come in... threes. I'm ready Lord.

Sunday: Will's Early 7th Birthday Party


Click the photo above to view 'em all...


Friday, November 07, 2008

Obama: Behind the Scenes PhotoStream

Click the image to see all the behind the scenes images...

By the way, here's footage of our truly first black president. Sort of.



Round 4 Week 2
Fri: 80 in NC = Biking!

Excellent pair of days in Ann Arbor, new ProQuest offices are amazing, and was great to meet many of my marketing peers whom I've worked with for many years... virtually.

Got the team buzzing with my Web 2.0/social media presentation, lots more to come on that front. And, bonus, had an avalanche of interest and side meetings to get our other divisions up and running with video training software and equipment. Nice!

Lots to catch up on -- and even got to preview our nearly-done, Pixar-style SIRS The Human Element video. Cheers to our SIRS team in Boca Raton for spearheading this fun projects -- the results are awesome! Coming to our home page at http://www.proquestk12.com soon... soon...


Wednesday, November 05, 2008


Round 4 Week 2
Wed. & Thu: Rest (Business Trip)

Flew from NC to Michigan very, very early this morning -- enjoyed my first day on the ground. Lots of faces put to names, so many years between visits -- incredible new offices (at least for me!), ProQuest is looking great. Everyone under one roof, good times.

Back tomorrow, give my Web 2.0/social networking presentation, then back to NC in the evening.

Tim, the jet setter... then back to the workouts.


Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Round 4 Week 2
Tue.: KillerAbs & P90X+ Intervals Plus

Election Day 2008 -- finally. After all the attack ads, the hate e/mail, the robo-calls, the dueling lawn signs, the slogans, the gaffs, the elite liberal media, the volunteers, the researching, the thinking... and now, the VOTING.

It's rare that we, as a country, do anything truly together. We go about our days, feeling isolated as individuals, with our given jobs, our families, our friends, our... lives.

But today, we do something as a team. As a country of equals. We make our voices heard, collectively, and send a message to our leaders -- and each other. Our votes matter, they count, and after they're counted (fairly, we hope -- as close to fair as can be, we realists know) we elect our leaders, cheer, pick ourselves up, back the men and women who've won, back them up, and get on with our lives.

But today is a great day. A day we'll all long remember -- likely the highest turnout since we brought another young idealist into the limelight and into the White House -- JFK.

Fitting -- go Obama, and may the best man win. The next four years will be critical -- let's get moving.
Vote Calrissian!

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Monday, November 03, 2008

Economic Crisis?
Send in the LOLCAT...


Round 4 Week 2
Mon.: KillerAbs & P90X+ Upper Plus

Back in the saddle -- tough stuff. Up from 181 to 189 this morning -- yikes. Time to work out the travel flab! Off to Ann Arbor mid-week for a pair of days, good times...