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I Built a Sand Castle

posted at 3:47 pm
on Jun. 5, 2006

Comments: 2 so far

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On my recent trip to North Carolina, Matt and I built a sand castle.

It started small (1 grain) and we built up from there.

By the end, I estimate it weighed about 800 pounds, maybe more.

He was the brains, I was the brawn. Our location was perfect; just close enough to the ocean to get occasional waves of water in our moat, but not so close to the ocean that we’d be vulnerable to shark attacks.

Sand is hard to work with.  I kept suggesting we use some plywood and 2x4s and drywall, but he said that wasn’t “spirited.” I said I was being “realistic” and I was tired of “shoveling.”

So I decided to spend time on shell work instead.

Others helped: Susie, Jen, Emily and Debbie all chipped in.  They shaped the towers, worked on some of the pathways, and created an internally consistent fantasy world setting for the movie, book and card-game tie-ins.

Debbie in particular thought we needed more action-figure/merchandising tie-ins, so she came up with the idea of the “Attacking Sea Horses”(tm).

At the end of it, we had something we could all be proud of. 

Overheard

“Oh boy! Another great opportunity for personal growth!”

...who said it?

“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”

...who said it?

After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.

...who said it?

“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”

...who said it?

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

 

 

 

I love that you did this.

 

Posted by Rachael
  at 10:55 am on Jun. 9, 2006

 

 

 

It's all about the internally consistent fantasy world.

Nice work.

 

Posted by Wesley
  at 4:45 am on Jun. 10, 2006

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