[M]etabrain [E]ntry [L]og - Braindumps on things Mel Chua has found shiny lately.

Day 2 of 6

Food for thought, courtesy of my brother.

Last night I flopped down and almost immediately had vivid, color-saturated dreams involving longboards with laminated wood decks and a Parallax Hydra 32360 (yes, that exact board; I have no idea why), woke up feeling absolutely terrible, rested a little more and then went in to work.

A conversation with David last night, towards the tail end of the hackathon, is burnt into my brain. I don’t know what it means yet.

“It’s human nature. Most people want power.”
“I don’t want it. I’m trying to avoid it.”
“We’ve noticed.”
“That I run the hell away from power?”
“That you give it to others.”

Went on a manic rush yesterday to hand off as many responsibilities as I could muster. I am not bringing my computer to LA, nor am I bringing a book. Blank notebook, pens. Clothing and toiletries, wallet, cell phone and camera + chargers, backpack. That’s all. Maybe not even the camera.

Today: Blazing through repairs during a workshop, reflashing 50 XOs for a testbed; physical work feels good, and gives my overtaxed brain something to cling to, focus on.

I have no patience for meetings that don’t fully engage all of their participants at any given time. Presentations, too. That’s probably why I run hackathons and brainstorm sessions and open spaces and avoid talking at people when I can. Given this, I would love the challenge of teaching a class or workshop or giving a speech to a crowd of over 300 people. How to do?