Paul Merrill | Shiny Bits of Life

January 5, 2016January 9, 2016

Skip the secret sauce

Superior State University (ironically named) has an annual list of banished words. This year’s list includes: conversation (as in, “join the conversation”), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, giving me life, and physicality.

Part of my job involves putting words together to communicate the value that the company I work with offers. There’s a fine balance between being interesting and being too interesting.

Overused catchphrases can induce rolled eyes, soft sighs of pain or simply a click-away from the web page.

This year, let’s strive to write with words that communicate well, without harm to our readers.

Special thanks to the Wall Street Journal for pointing me to the Superior State University list.

December 29, 2015January 4, 2016

Bloom where you’re planted – or sleep where you find a bed

Floof, the cat, sleeping in a board game box lid Our cat, Floof, sleeps whenever he feels tired, which is the vast majority of every day (and night). He doesn’t need a bed to enter kitty slumbers. In this case, a board game box was a great place to begin his nap.

I find myself looking for the perfect bed before I begin my sleep. Or the perfect situation before I dive into a big project, begin that talk with a friend I’ve been putting off or start a challenging exercise regime that I know will pay off in the long run.

May we all be more like Floof – and just dive in, even if only into the world of dreams.

December 22, 2015December 21, 2015

I can’t change your mind

There’s a lot to get upset about these days. If you’re an American, the massive ego and questionable ethics of various presidential candidates is quite disturbing. But I’ve given up on saying anything about them on Facebook, Twitter or this blog. It’s just not worth the time or frustration.

Even face-to-face discussions can be frustrating. I make assumptions that my conversational partner will interpret the solution to a problem the same way I do. That’s not always true. And reaching a place of difference is rarely fun.

But small change can happen.

A good friend said, “Small change is a thing to be celebrated!” He has a very challenging relationship that’s incredibly complex and difficult. He celebrates when he sees a very small change.

I occasionally tackle little issues with my little blog, like the value of recycling, bringing your own cup or being part of a community. Maybe no one changes their attitudes or actions as a result of such posts. Or maybe, just maybe, one person will do something different.

December 15, 2015December 17, 2015

A single focus

a medicine bottle in the dark My molar was still aching, even though the dentist with a thick accent completed the filling a week ago. So it was time for ibuprofen.

After the drug was consumed, I returned to our medicine cabinet to place the bottle on its shelf. Being of orderly mind, I attempted to turn the bottle where others could quickly determine its contents.

Not an easy task. In the dark, the front of the bottle looked like the back.

A simple design choice could have solved this problem. If the designer had made “Ibuprofen” in large type with strong contrast, users could speedily identify the contents in low light or daylight.

That points to the idea, dear readers, that whatever communications piece we are creating, whether a simple email or a lengthy novel, we need to focus on our main point.

December 8, 2015December 12, 2015

We need the perspective of others

face made up of trash cans Hipster coffee shop. Fun visit with family.

My daughter noticed the face that their trashcan and recycling bin made.

I never would have seen that on my own. But after seeing her perspective, I never can look at that corner the same way again.

We need others to show us things we don’t see.

Sometimes I need to ask, and sometimes another perspective is volunteered. Either way works fine.

December 1, 2015November 21, 2015

Give yourself variety

Don Henley in Rolling Stone Magazine We all need variety. It keeps our brains firing properly.

One area of intentional variety in my small life is my whiteboard at work. I really don’t use it as a whiteboard, but I do tape interesting things to it, in my attempt to provide some changing scenery.

I would urge you to look for areas you can change – to give your average days a little extra spice.

By the way, Don Henley is no longer on my whiteboard. The latest tenants are a band called Public Access TV.

November 24, 2015November 23, 2015

Losing touch

It’s easy to lose touch.

The buyer of this $200,000+ Mercedes Maybach sedan will think little of paying another $5,000 for a fancy sunroof. (The Magic Sky Control roof will let you change its opacity from fully opaque to clear in a matter of seconds.)

It’s easy for me to cast stones. Recently, Heather and I got new phones that cost way too much. (Our kids have been giving us a hard time, and justifiably so.) Compared to $5,000 for a fancy sunroof, new phones that we use every day for tons of productive (and not so productive) things seems to be sensible.

But when I think about kids in developing countries going hungry – and that a fraction of our monthly phone bill could feed several, I can’t justify this extravagance.

To the Maybach owner, extravagance means one thing. To me, another. But we both need to step back and see the bigger picture. We’re both losing touch.

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

Stop vs. Yield

stop-sign In England, there are fewer stop signs per intersection than in the USA. I wish America would follow the UK in this area.

If you see no drivers coming, it saves time for you and the people behind you if you slow down, rather than coming to a complete stop. Slowing down also saves fuel, compared to completely stopping and then speeding back up.

Maybe it boils down to trust. The driving test in England is much harder than in the US. Drivers in the UK are required to be more qualified to be behind the wheel. (There are 2-3 times fewer traffic fatalities per capita in the UK compared to the US.) When I took the driving test in England, it was much harder.

The only downside to having fewer stop signs would be the loss of revenue from traffic tickets. Perhaps local governments could come up with a less predatory way to raise funds.

November 10, 2015November 16, 2015

Beauty is pain

shoes-of-ms-prada Just looking at this photo* caused me pain.

What great lengths people go to in pursuit of beauty – and have done for the scope of human history.

The vast majority of good things come with a cost.

Even enjoying a beautiful flower along the path requires you to take a moment to stop.

– –

*This is an excerpt of a photo taken by Craig McDean. It appeared in the November issues of WSJ magazine.

Footnote: The pain Miuccia Prada must experience while wearing these shoes must make her feel beautiful – enough to put up with the pain of wearing them.

November 3, 2015October 31, 2015

Assumptions

“Everyone has one.”

Tom Kundig, a famous architect said that about his Cab armchair by Mario Bellini. I did a quick Google search and discovered it costs about $5,500. For one chair.

The full quote is just as priceless: “It’s almost embarrassing to admit that [I own one] because everyone has one.”

Then I had to ask myself, when do I make assumptions about others? Quite often.

They look like that because they have no sense of taste.
They are struggling with that health problem because they refuse to exercise.
They keep failing at relationships because they…

You get the point. It’s too easy to assume things without knowing the bigger picture.

Photo by vetustanova on Tumblr.