An event cascade refers a series of events or failures that all contribute to an outcome (usually a bad one). Plane crashes, for instance, require a long line of failures reinforcing and magnifying each other.  Without any one of the failures, you don’t end up with a crash, it requires an entire cascade of events.

I had one of those days that  had the potential to spin out of control and crash, but through dumb luck each problem mostly resolved itself before the next one started, and by 10am, everything was peachy. It’s not so often that crises are so considerate with their timing.

===

No coffee…totally my fault.

At 6am, the garage door refused to open.

Torrential rain made the normally light traffic ridiculously heavy. These first two make me late for my first appointment of the day.

(side bar: my passenger side window is half open because it slid off the tracks yesterday)

I hopped on the newly wrapped BigFix shuttle bus (which Rassak designed – photos ) to make sure everything was going smoothly.

As soon as we start moving, I realize I forgot my phone in the car.

Half way across town, I caught a cab back, but didn’t have cash, so I made the cab swing though the drive-up ATM.

As I approach my car door, I can see my phone ringing…major production emergency, but disaster is avoided.

I arrive at the office and realize that since I’ve been driving my wife’s car all week, my office key s on my other key ring. Luckily, my studio-mates are already there.

Below are the cities that I visited in 2009. One or more nights were spent in each place.

• Prescott, AZ
• Encinitas/San Diego, CA
• Monterey, CA
• Pasadena, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Denver, CO
• Crystal Lake, IL
• Henderson, NV
• Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

It’s been a year since I posted to this blog, and I’m sorry to have disappointed anyone, but like they say, life got in the way.

It’s been over a year since my last post on this blog. Since then I’ve graduated Miami Ad School, gotten married, gotten promoted, and gotten so busy with client work that almost anything outside of work and family has fallen off to the way-side.

I plan to write more in the future (both here and elsewhere), and if you’d like to keep up with me on a more on-going basis, Twitter is probably you’re best bet.

As always, if you have any questions, or just want to chat, email or call me.  I try my best to make time for those who make time for me.

Thanks for your patience.

–Dylan

http://twitter.com/killerfocus

I ran into this error message while adding an friend of mine to a school group.

The group limit turns out to be 200. I can’t decide if that is too low, or to high.

As of 12:00 PM PDT (and maybe earlier, that was the first time I checked email today) my gmail account (dylan.thomas@gmail.com) has been inaccessible, giving the following error page instead of my usually overflowing inbox:

Due to the distributed nature of gmail, everyone else I know has working email, but mine is down. I’ve had my account so long, perhaps some of the original gmail servers just died.

Google, if you’re listening, fix it soon, or I’m moving to Yahoo! I’ve been a Google Advocate for years, but I just can’t afford to be without email when I need it most.

[Update: After 5 hours, my gmail account was finally accessible again.] 

Tonight I pushed live a client site, a complete redesign of www.mistermojito.com. More details to follow, and there are a few housekeeping issues, but let me know what you think.

Have a good weekend, open season on marshmallow Peeps is almost upon us.

=)

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I know I haven’t posted much lately, but I have several things in the pipe for the new year, and I hope you’ll stick with me.  In the meantime, enjoy the season, and the company of people you love.

Happy Holidays.

www.jacksonpollock.org

“Maybe the best creative you’ll do today.” via American Copywriter

Technorati Tags: art, inspiration

Many people feel at the mercy of those around, above, or below them. If only they could change things, if only they could be the decision maker, things would be better.

Becoming a decision maker requires only two things: initiative, and decisiveness. If you make decisions, you are a decision maker. Most people will not question the decisions you make, because they "are not in a place to say anything," not being the decision maker, and all. Eventually, you will work your way into making bigger and more important decisions.

There are two important points to remember if you decide to become a decision maker: Never apologize for making a decision, and never be afraid to change you mind when new information becomes available. The key is to make the best decision possible at any given point, and commit to it wholey, that is, until you realize a better decision. This blend of decisiveness and flexibility will foster respect, innovation, trust, and power.  Too many people get caught not making a decision for fear of making the wrong one.  What they do not realize is that not deciding is a decision, and it creates a default action.  When given the chance, make decisions for yourself, because if you fail to, someone else will, and you'll have given them the power to do it.

Decide to take control in your life.  Realize that every decision is made.  You should make as many of them that affect you and things you care about as you can.