September 8, 2017
What's With The Water
I have been remembering from the other day when I was in the pool, but I had a very different experience from usual.
Yes, I was swimming hard and disciplined doing my laps.
But my mind decided to focus on the water.
Just the water...nothing else.
I literally blanked out the world around me...no pool, no exercise, no other people, no current events, no random thoughts.
I just put all my senses unto the water itself.
The cool softness of the water as it glided over my hands and body.
The subtle resistance of the water, yet the buoyancy it provided.
The waves and current as the water flowed around my body moving crisply through it.
The healing purity of the water physically and spiritually.
I imagined the clearest and cleanest water, and how it quenches our thirst and washes everything in the world clean again.
Water, earth, wind and fire...the wisdom and perfection of them and us cannot possibly be random events, but they are testament to the genius of our Creator.
Thank you G-d especially for the water in the time, place, and amount that is for a blessing--and as a series of strong hurricanes continue to roar towards your people, let it be merciful.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
June 26, 2016
What Do You Think Of Toll Booths
The Total CIO speaks about the stupidity of toll booths.
Basically, it's highway robbery. ;-)
(Source Video: Dannielle Blumenthal)
What Do You Think Of Toll Booths
March 10, 2013
Biblical Art
After paying, I noticed there was this beautiful wall hanging between the register and pickup counter...I started to take a closer look and there were these gorgeous scenes from the bible:
- Creation and the 7th Day of Rest
- Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
- Noah and The Ark, Cain and Abel, The Tower of Babel, and Abraham
- Joseph, Moses, The Exodus from Egypt, and The Ten Commandments
- The Promised Land of Israel, The Fall of Jericho, King David, The Temple, Hezekiah, and Jonah and The Whale
The detail, colors, and flow on this artwork was absolutely amazing.
It is called "A Celebration of Spirit" and I believe that the artist is Charles Fazzino.
The lithograph was tall and narrow, and I would love to see it as a whole wall mural...it is really beautiful and brought the bible so alive.
I found out today that not only the shawarma is good at Max's... ;-)
Biblical Art
October 28, 2007
Feng Shui and Enterprise Architecture
Feng Shui, which literally means earth and water, is typically a way of “arranging living quarters with optimal comfort for mind and body.” It is the adaptation of “homes to harmonize with the currents of ch’i” (life force or energy).
However, feng shui does not only apply to home arrangement. More broadly, “the aim of feng shui is to change and harmonize the environment—cosmic, currents known as ch’i—to improve fortunes.” “The Chinese saw a magical link between man and the landscape: Nature reacts to any change and that reaction rebounds in man. They saw the world and themselves as part of a sacred metabolic system.”
Feng shui has a basis in Taoism. “The Taoists glorified nature. Love of nature permeated their view of life. Things would not be correct until man could mirror within, the harmony of nature without.” “Tao united everything, exemplifying the need of nature and man to bring all opposing forces [yin and yang] into a fluctuating harmony.”
“Ch’i is the most important component of feng shui.” “Ch’i must flow smoothly and near a person to improve his ch’i. It must be balanced. If the current is too strong or too weak, it can have negative effects.” “Feng shui practitioners try to direct a smooth, good current of ch’i to a person and divert of convert harmful ch’i.” (Adapted from Feng Shui by Sarah Rossbach)
In User-centric EA, we seek to create information products that are useful (relevant—current, accurate, and complete) and useable (easy to understand and readily accessible) to the end users to enhance decision-making. One way to make EA products more usable is by applying the teachings of feng shui in terms of harmony, flow, and balance.
User-centric EA seeks to harmonize information products to make them balanced, flowing, and positive or harmonious to a person’s ch’i. In other words, if EA information products focus not only on content, but also on the format, then the information products can be easier to understand, more potent in reaching end users, and more influential to decision-making.
“Feng shui brings good fortune to the home.” I believe it can also bring good fortune to the enterprise that effectively uses it to communicate vital information to end users for business and technology decision-making.
Feng Shui and Enterprise Architecture