Brewed Fresh Daily

We’ve gotten some attention at Map the Mess. Here’s a commentary from the Sunlight Foundation.

While out in California, I had a great conversation with Bob Horn at Stanford about “mapping messes” (it turns out it’s a term of art to deal with complexity). He’s given me some important insights about how to approach “mess mapping”.

Here’s an example of a mess map.

I had no idea. You?

Northwest Ohio is carrot country. Click here to visit a farm in Henry County and experience the carrot harvest. Then follow the carrots to the Campbell Soup Supply Company in nearby Napoleon. The Buckeye State is known for being a leader in carrot production and many other crops. Ohio is No. 2 in the country for Swiss cheese production, sixth in soybean production, seventh in corn production for grain and ninth in hog production…

Our Ohio - Ohio Vegetables

I have wanted to advance myself and start thinking about taking some classes at Cleveland State University, my old alma mater. The great smell of books and cramped desks, why did I leave this behind? Ah, to go back to school again.

I am amazed with the aestitic look of CSU, however, it is beautiful. There is an actual Business Building instead of housing all personnel in the Main Classroom section of the University. It definitely does not look the same, concrete wise as when I first went there….hmmm. A long time ago, Generation Y’ers.

I went to the second floor of the CSU library into one of the tiny, smelly study rooms. I put my bag on the floor, and took out my checkbook intending to write a check. “No, I thought, I will do it right before I leave.” So I set it aside, then I proceeded to find the restroom. I was gone maybe three minutes, tops. It wasn’t exactly out in the open, it was interwoven among all of my other papers scattered along the desk. In fact, it was hard to see unless you were standing at the doorway. You guess it, stolen. I didn’t realize it right away until I was ready to write that check. I scoured the entire room. Looked in my bag about fifty times, went back to the bathroom, looked in some of the other study rooms just in case someone dropped it. Right!

Okay, now that I look back on it, I was naive. I put too much trust in people. Luckily, I didn’t have my driver’s license in the plastic window, credit cards or a DEBIT card that a lot of people seem to adore. I do not own a DEBIT card for just this reason. If I had one, someone would have emptied my entire checking account with frivolous purchases from Best Buy or fill their gas tanks from Gas USA. In fact, the customer service representative at the bank told me just that they would steal credit cards and/or debit cards to fill at the pump.

What I really want to discuss is personal property. Why do people take valuable items or just things from hard working people? Even though it was just a checkbook that I shouldn’t have been carrying around with me in the first place, I felt violated. Someone entered the study room without my knowledge, my own personal space and robbed me. Take something that did not belong to them. I have had people take shoes from the gym, my favorite clogs that I paid good money for; they decide to take them because I mistakenly forgot to put them in my bag. When I can, I give people’s personal belongings back or return them to the “lost and found” because I know how it feels to loose a prized possession.

What kind of society are we that we don’t respect people and their belongings?

A report came out this week: Adult Obesity Rates Rise In 37 States

Oklahoma City has a cool effort underway: OKC Million: This City is Going on A Diet

I’ve signed up because I can track my weight with a free iPhone App. Every time I swim, I take my weight…record it on my iPhone…the OKC Million site keeps track and graphs my progress. The site even texts me a reminder if I have not recorded my weight in a few days.

Read the backstory: Oklahoma City mayor puts city on a diet

My summer usually consists of biking along the lake or cruising along Lakeshore Blvd. into Mentor for a 40-mile route and many organized rides such as the Sweet Corn Challenge in Richfield. This year, I got talked into doing the MS150 for a nominal registration fee of $0.00, which I couldn’t resist. It is a very good cause. The only problem I have always had with this ride is raising $250.00 in donations. The bottom line is, I hate asking people for money. Since I committed myself to this event, I emailed everyone in my address book to sponsor me if they can. It is hard work. In fact, a friend of mine this year raised over $1,000 and her employer even matched the amount she raised. Great work.

I am in fantastic physical shape. But the thought of doing 75 miles one day then waking up the following day and doing it again was daunting. I was really nervous but I was also confident that all the mileage I have on my odometer, I will overcome my fears and make it.

Saturday, the first day was a perfect sunny day with low winds and moderate temperatures. I do not do well when it is cold. My legs lock up and I find it hard to concentrate because my hands can’t grasp the handlebars. Everyone on my team wanted to begin at 7AM, I elected for a later start time. I got a little more sleep, but I got tangled up with the thousand or so riders on a two-lane road. I was so energized with the crowds of people on their bikes to fight MS. There were “Speed Racer” and Skull and Crossbones jerseys, rode, mountain or tandem bikes, and various levels of bike riders. We all had the common goal of getting to Cedar Point before 5PM. My goal, however, was no later than 2PM. I rode a continuous pace of 15 miles per hour and stopped for Gatorade and fruit to keep my energy level up. After rolling hills and road kill, I finally arrived at the finish line to the cheers of volunteers. I could not wait to get off of that saddle. I have ridden 100 miles before, but I knew the following day, I would have to get back onto that same saddle and pedal to Berea.

The following day, I did awake up and find that my legs were very tight. I was not surprised. Okay, I told myself, “I have 75 miles until I get back to Berea.” The first 20 miles were brutal. I had to retrain my legs to turn the petals and continue my average speed of 15 miles per hour. Yikes. I wanted to keep my legs moving so I passed the first rest stop but the second stop needed to be taken in order to replenish my fluids and grab a few snacks. I won’t lie, the second day was a challenge for me to keep hydrated and keep that momentum going and focus on the task at hand, helping individuals with MS. As I pedaled towards the familiar Eastland Blvd intersection, my greatest trill and accomplishment was passing through the “finish line” banner at the Berea Fairground to the cheers of fans in wheelchairs, and locals sitting at the bleachers. I felt like I was at the Beijing Olympics. I will cherish this moment for days to come.

See you in 2009.

Michael Feigenbaum launches a blog:

Yet, even as i groan under the weight , trudge daily through my appointed tasks, keep up with the ability to respond, i sense the wonder, feel the joy, wish to be more awake. The good people of the world i am here to say what i feel and hope all who find me will enjoy and be moved to connect with my words…

Click on thru and add him to your favorites/feeds.

for heaven’s cake: first blog

I have had many conversations with people about technology. In today’s society, you have to embrace it. You don’t necessarily need to know how to do everything such as texting (it does get addicting), but at least be familiar with “Social Networking” i.e., Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter to name a few.  I don’t always love technology especially last week when my Mac iBook decided to blow up. Ah, yes. I do not have a computer currently. I have EVERYTHING on that computer. A few people even asked me, “Did you back up your stuff.” Nope. I have a Mac, why would I have to do that. I learned my lesson very quickly. Please back-up your stuff.

Also, try to get a cell phone. I was hesitant for the longest time. Why do I need it anyways? Well, today was a perfect example. I had to meet an individual at a Panera coffee house that was NOT exactly close to my house. I drove over 25 minutes to get to my destination. Okay, I was late because they closed the I-271 freeway due to the rainstorm. I had NO WAY to get a hold of this person because she had NO cell phone. I was so frustrated. I called her house and left a message that I was going to be late. What is that going to do?? It will explain why I was late but she will not receive the message until she gets home. I think she was really annoyed with me because I was late, but Hello, it was not exactly my fault. If you don’t want to buy a cell phone contract of 1 to 2 years, then by all means buy a “Pay as you Go” phone for emergencies. I use mine all the time. Now, I want the iPhone because I want the Internet whenever I don’t have access to my computer that is now, dead!

The other problem I have with technology is obsolescence. I happen to visit the Apple Store in Lyndhurst recently, and I noticed the latest model of the MacBook Pro. Once you buy a computer, cell phone, ipod, HDTV or any other technological gizmo it will be obsolete in a few years. But, that is what we need to deal with in this ever-changing society, more stuff that will eventually be laid to rest in a landfill.

We’re having a lot of fun over at Map the Mess: Citizens Cleaning up Cuyahoga County. (Think jigsaw puzzles.)

Thanks to all who are contributing time to do research. We have an exciting Open Source project underway. And we are building our web site on a leading Web 2.0 platform from I-Open’s partner, Near-Time. This platform enables us to integrate powerful collaboration and knowledge management features into the site. (Only registered users will get full access to the site and training on how to use it and our social network mapping protocols. Registration is free. You only need to give us your name and a valid e-mail.)

From the contributions of our readers, we have identified 14 projects to explore. You can add your voice (either by name or anonymously) by filling out the form at the Map the Mess home page. You can keep up with the project with the MtM blog posts.

We also posted our first map.

What do you get when you cross,
10000 Little Ideas,
The New Barleycorn
and Chris Ronayne?

A Special Presentation of this weeks WADE OVAL WEDNESDAY!
10000 Little Ideas is helping host a special Wade Oval Wednesday (WOW) event, Wednesday, August 6th. 5:00-9:00 PM At University Circle across from The Cleveland Museum of Art.

5:00 PM, Meet Chris Ronayne,
President of University Circle Incorporated
Chris will be on hand to for an exclusive opportunity to discuss how you can make a difference in University Circle.
For University Circle see:
http://www.universitycircle.org

6:00 PM, Free Concert featuring
The New Barleycorn,
For the Barleycorn see:
http://www.thenewbarleycorn.com/schedule.php

10000 Little Ideas will be there to discuss our upcoming initiatives and
For 10,000 Little Ideas see:
http://www.cleveland365.com/10000littleideas/

Indianapolis has a big push on improving high school graduation rates, and bloggers at Smaller Indiana are lending a hand.

E-mail to our SI community from Pat Coyle:

A quick note, but an important request:

Marion County needs 1,000 volunteers to help mentor local high school students as part of its “Common Goal” initiative. The goal is to increase graduation rates. Check out the main page of SI today for more details.

Smaller Indiana

Learn more about Common Goal