A Taste Of Home

So I have been toying around with a Flip Video ever since I left on my deployment. The thing is great for shooting simple short videos which is exactly what I have been using it for. I think it will be a great way to let all my family and friends know what I am doing while I am away. I have been having a hard time describing what it is like to my wife, family and friends because it is so difficult to describe something so different from what any of them have experienced. It is like trying to describe a color. How do you tell someone what red looks like? Maybe I am just not as descriptive in speaking as I am while writing but regardless I need to get better at ensuring that my important human connections feel connected to my daily life while I am away, if for nothing other than for my wife's sanity.

I must say it is a pretty awkward feeling when you are by yourself talking to a camera so my hat goes off to all the video bloggers out there. I plan on setting up a YouTube page and getting it organized so that people who care can get a little taste of what my experiences are like over here in Iraq. The one thing that I have noticed in the few videos I have shot is how different things can come across in video versus just writing about them. You only get one shot to say how you feel on camera so it is a bit different than editing a blog post and it definitely feels a bit more invasive and personal. I guess it is something I will just have to get comfortable with. Well here is a short clip and my inaugural video blog post. Stay tuned for more and for an organized YouTube page with more clips.

BadskiBlog Is Heading To The Sandbox

I was notified this week that I have a short notice tasking to Iraq. My blog may be a little light on content for the next couple weeks as I go through training and transition to my new life for the next 6 months. I fully intend to blog while deployed. I am not sure how often I will be able to post but I will do my best. My blog will undoubtedly shift in parallel with my new surroundings and experiences so I suspect my content to be geared more towards topics like the military, the wars, our political environment, etc. However, seeing as it is my first deployment who knows what will happen with BadskiBlog from here. Stay tuned and please feel free to reach out to me at any time at truecore27@aol.com.

War Blogging?! A Glimpse Into Our Deployed Soldiers Lives

Imagine you are amidst a mortar attack. Shrapnel is flying all around you, your heart is beating out of your chest, all hell is breaking loose. How do you react? Blog about it?!? No that really wasn't the first thing that came to my mind either. But that is what the Air Force is doing as we speak. Obviously that example is a little dramatic but the military is deploying a couple military journalists into the field to vlog and blog their adventures to the world.

International Security Assistance Force Joint Command officials announced a new Web site Feb. 1 to support a public affairs project titled "30 Days Through Afghanistan."

The Web-based project kicks off Feb. 8 and aims to bring the people, the mission and the experiences of ISAF's 44 participating nations to a worldwide audience through the eyes of Tech. Sgts. Nathan Gallahan and Kenneth Raimondi.

You can read the full article here or check out the 30 Days Through Afghanistan website and watch a video here. This concept is really interesting I will be on the look out for content as it arises. I think that there is a dire need for the nation as a whole to better understand the nature of the military and what our soldiers go through during a time of war. How can we truly vote for elected leaders, who hold critical war stances, if we don’t even understand what their decisions mean for the 1% of our population who actually has to serve? Not to mention how those decisions effect the countless family and friends of our service members. Part of the problem is a general lack of understanding about the business of war fighting, but another part of the problem is a culture of secrecy by the government and our military around the nature of war. A close control of critical information is obviously warranted, however the general public has relatively little exposure to what a day in the life of a military member is really like overseas. How do I know? Because I am in the military and I have relatively little knowledge and media showing me what my forthcoming deployment will be like…..and I have first hand people to talk to. I think some of this secrecy might be attributed to our nation's history of wavering public support for conflict and the impact that has on our politicians reelections. Regardless most of our nation’s views on military life in a wartime situation are based more on Full Metal Jacket and Stripes than actual media and information making its way back to the states .

"The goal is to create a 30-day online conversation with people across the world," said Sergeant Gallahan. "We hope to raise an understanding of Afghanistan and the ISAF mission."

I think a project like this one is one to be paid attention to as it is not only relevant to military members and their families, but to everyone who benefits from the sacrifices of our troops.

The GMAT vs. The BadskiBlog

Last night was my first class for the Kaplan GMAT preparation course and I must say that although I am a bit rattled about the test, the class was pretty enjoyable and will definitely serve me well as I progress. More important than the class is going to be my own commitment to intense studying. The most common theme that Kaplan has found amongst those who score 100 points or more higher than their diagnostic test is that they study more than 100 hours over the duration of the course. I have broken that down to roughly a two hour a day study commitment, with the flexibility to miss a day or so as long as I make up for it on the weekend. To me that is an intense study commitment, even having come from a service academy where I was intellectually overmatched by the average cadet and faculty member. However, it is an intense commitment that I plan to stick to for the next 6 weeks or so. Although I am slightly intimidated looking holistically at the challenge ahead I am excited to fully dedicate myself to the cause. Unfortunately this will undoubtedly place a major damper on the amount of quality writing I can commit to deliver to you, the badass reader of Badskiblog. My mitigation strategy is to post some quality video clips that will minimize my time invested while still providing those interested with some valuable content. If any of you would like to break into blogging for the first time or would like to expose your content to a different audience please feel free to write up a guest post on a topic of your choice and send it my way. Thanks and wish me luck on the long journey towards hopeful GMAT success.

Blog Orgy! A Smorgasbord Of New Blog Recommendations!

I have written recently about my new found infatuation with Twitter, but I left out one other benefit. I have found a bunch of new quality blogs to follow. I haven’t added any blogs to the BadskiBlog recommendation column lately so here it is with a short synopsis of each:

1. Presentation Zen - I read Garr’s book with the same title and it amazed me. Read my review here. His blog claims to offer tips on professional design but it branches out much more than that. Click here to see his 15 tips for continuous improvement. A must read for anyone who expresses themselves visually in any fashion, which in today’s world is everyone!

2. Revolver Magazine - Simply the best metal magazine in the world. I subscribed to this while I was at the Air Force Academy and I attribute my knowledge and upkeep on the metal scene almost entirely to this magazine during that time. Besides that they have started a “hottest chicks in metal” edition that is a dark yet still hot version of the SI swimsuit edition.

3. Good Financial Cents - A financial planner who is a very good blogger. Jeff Rose is a veteran turned financial planner that offers a lot of advice on all sorts of topics surrounding finance. He goes into more depth than the majority of financial bloggers out there and is definitely worth a read. I wrote a post featuring some of his material here.

4. tompeters! - Without much doubt, Peter Drucker and Tom Peters have shaped the idea of modern management more than any others over the last six decades. Drucker is said to have "invented" management as a discipline worthy of study—in particular, he gave management of large firms the essential tools to deal with their post-World War II enormity, complexity, and growing global reach. Tom Peters, in turn, led the way in preparing management for the current era of staggering change, starting in the mid-1970s.The likes of Fortune, the Economist, the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times have said Tom is the "uber-guru" of management and inventor of the enormous "management guru industry," that "in no small part, what American corporations have become is what Peters has encouraged them to be," that Tom is "the father of the post-modern corporation," and that "we live in a Tom Peters world." Tom writes nice digestible nuggets of management information and posts frequently. I think his resume speaks for itself.

5. The Blog of Tim Ferriss - I have also written about the Four Hour Workweek here on BadskiBlog. Tim doesn’t blog that often which is probably consistent with his life philosophy but his lessons are valuable. If you haven’t read the book go get it and then start digging into the blog so you can actually appreciate what he is writing about. Great for those who want to be involved in business but still want to have a life!

6. Escape From Cubicle Nation - From corporate prisoner to thriving entrepreneur is the subtitle to this blog by Pam Slim. She also doesn’t post often but the content is good when it arrives. Great for those looking to strike out on their own. Here is a sample of her helpful advice.

7. Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist - The Brazen Careerist is a blog and a social networking site looking to link Gen Y career minded individuals together. This completely uncensored blog is quirky yet very thought provoking, and the social site is great as well. Recently Penelope made huge waves in the news for Twittering about a miscarriage. Not sure I would do the same but it is that unabashed honesty that makes her posts a worthwhile read.

8. The White Rhino Report - "As the Founder of White Rhino Partners, I work as an executive recruiter. Client companies and executive level candidates look to me - not just as a recruiter - but as a trusted advisor. I specialize in placing senior executives who are "Renaissance Men and Women," and who are entrepreneurial leaders - many of whom have had a distinguished military career and/or are Service Academy graduates and hold MBA's from top-tier business schools." What a great concept from a great guy. I have had the pleasure of getting to know Al and I think the "Renaissance Men and Women" focus is an awesome concept that seems to be tremendously rewarding. As a Renaissance man himself Al seeks out other well rounded individuals and places them in a culture that is conducive to their personality. Besides his profession he writes a thought provoking and extremely well rounded blog. The posts cover everything from playwrights to patriots and features many excellent guest bloggers. A must read for any servicemen and women.

There are some more blogs I have been checking out lately that I will likely add later. More to Come!

New Blog Addition - Schaefer's Blog

I am adding a new blog to the list that I follow consistently. Disclaimer: I know this fellow blogger. I am adding Schaefer's Blog to the list. We both graduated the same year from Air Force Academy and I just recently began sampling his blog. He also writes for The Art of Manliness so he is the first to make my list twice. We didn't know each other all that well at school but I remember him being a good dude, and I have really been enjoying his posts lately. I hope you enjoy his blog. Here is a sampling of some of his work.

When I first created this blog, I was just coming out of a season of intense and enriching mentorship. I had recently graduated from the Air Force Academy where I had been surrounded by great teachers and officers, and through my local church I had made relationships with several quality individuals that poured their lives into me. So, it was only natural that most of my content would be focused on the various lessons I had learned throughout that time.

Since then, I’ve moved into a new season of my life. And though I’ve still maintained close contact with many mentors, my interests and passions have taken new, unexpected twists. That’s life. As many of you have noticed, I’ve posted very little content over the past several months. Though much of this has had to do with my crazy schedule as a C-17 pilot, the other has to do with a lack of passion for the subject matter I’d originally built my blog around.

Lessons in Skilled Living implies just that - each blog post imparting a life lesson. Well, for now I’m out of lessons, at least, I am not that interested in writing about them.

What am I interested in writing about? War, coffee, books, strategy, Christianity, technology, philosophy, the Middle East, John Boyd, education, movies, the outdoors, flying, Africa, being a dad/husband, music, wine, entrepreneurship, economics, foreign policy….just to name a few.

Masks Collapse

I read Ben Casnocha's blog quite often and I think I enjoy reading his blog because he seems like a pretty normal dude that writes about a lot of different topics. In the short time I have been blogging, all the articles I have read have doused me with advice to focus your blog on one target niche, but my life isn't one focused area. I am interested in a lot of things, hence my blog encompasses a lot of things. He does the same thing, although I would argue much better than I do.

I came across this post of his today and I found it pretty interesting. He talks about how we put on different masks depending on who we are interacting with, and what professional or personal situations we are in. He argues that technology is driving us to ditch our masks as our personal and professional lives become more intertwined.

I wrote a related post on my initial resistance to blogging and the repercussions of forming Internet footprint. I eventually concluded that I had nothing to hide and attributed my change of heart to growing older and progressing as a person. I found it very interesting that Ben placed more emphasis on technology. Interesting theory that I am sure holds some weight. Check out his blog.

Another Blog Update

I have added Yielding Wealth to the blogs that I follow. I have a grace period where I typically follow blogs for a few weeks to see if I will actually continue to follow them. This one passed the test and I am adding it for your viewing pleasure as well. Enjoy.

The Power of Blogging

I found an interesting article today on how bloggers are influencing customer service in a variety of industries. You can read the full article here.  I mention the article because it got me thinking about the power of blogs. I think that the power is being shifted more and more to blogs and away from mainstream media outlets. Will these mainstream media outlets ever go away? No. However, many people like myself are much more interested in getting news and learning from blogs than we are from reading CNN or MSN or a major newspaper. While the majority of print media outlets are complaining about having more overhead and the shift away from print, they are not asking why. I think that there are a lot of people who trust an up front biased blogger more so than a biased media outlet claiming to be neutral. Blogs covers things that those in the blogosphere deem worthy, and those bloggers are rewarded if what they cover is what people want to read. Major media outlets tend to be large, bureaucratic entities that cover what the other guy is covering. Content seems to be an afterthought for some of these outlets. People identify with blogs because they are like word of mouth from a friend. But this word of mouth has the potential to reach thousands of people in the time it takes spoken word of mouth to reach ten. That is the power of the blogosphere. The ability to remain personal while still reaching out to the masses. It's a very interesting concept and one of the reasons that I, like many others, am shifting my attention to the curiously glorious blog.