On the advice of my once-and-future editor Samantha (who’s dealing with family issues right now), I’m switching to every other week posting. You won’t feel so overwhelmed with unmissable posts from me, and I won’t be under quite so much pressure if the backlog runs out.
The good news is: there is a backlog for at least the next three months! So here’s what it looks like:
August 15: How I Beat the Draft
You’ve heard all those stories about flunking the physical, being a conscientious objector, or moving to Canada? This is none of those. It involves running to the Post Office after hours!
August 29: My Summer of Nixon and Watergate
I arrived in D.C. for my summer internship with the federal government on June 17, 1972, the night of the Watergate break-in. No, I didn’t stay in the Watergate Hotel, though.
September 12: Coming to America
How my brother’s bride from Thailand arrived at LAX and he wasn’t there.
September 26: Travel Disasters
Everyone’s heard of lost passports, car burglaries in Oahu, and pickpockets in Rome. This is none of those. The unbelievably weird stuff that’s happened to me while traveling the world alone, how I handled it, and whether it might have better if someone was with me.
October 10: Baby Please Don’t Go
How I won a radio call-in contest, and how the “prize” turned out to involve the police (no, not the rock group).
October 24: Don’t Beg Forgiveness
“Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission” ? Not always. The story of the Google Cinema Club, with a complete list of movies and contributions from some of the other people who helped.
Other articles in the works
These are not finished yet and some might not be:
Public Speaking for Engineers: Everything they tell you at Toastmasters about public speaking is BS, if you’re a tech person. I set you straight, with examples of me on YouTube.
Live Theater at Google: After years of wanting to do this, I finally pulled it off, with the Pear Avenue theater group. This is already on YouTube.
How I Beat Microsoft: When I was in Google Patent Litigation, I found the prior art that prevented them from getting an injunction against Google Maps in Germany. (Unfortunately, I need to get clearance and maybe help from Google Legal for this, so I can’t say for sure if and when this will come out.)
Suggestions?
If you have other ideas, please reply in the comments. Remember that my early tech career already is in my two books, with “Dan Markunas” standing in for me, so a lot of that is available.