I learned about Noah from my colleague at Promega, Jason, who assumed I was a good-hearted person and forwarded me a link from Reddit. Noah knew he was going to die soon, and his family was going to have an early Christmas celebration for him.  All he wanted for Christmas was Christmas cards.

So, (as my heart swells) the internet community rallied, and Noah received over 1 million cards before he died.  He couldn’t even open them all.  His family was overwhelmed by the response.

2 cards came from me and Jason.

On the way over to the Hallmark store, Jason and I pondered whether or not this was a some sort of sick joke set up by a cynical internet blogger.   We both came to the conclusion that we were going to send cards anyway.  We trusted the human condition enough to hope that it wasn’t a hoax, and that there really was a child on the other end that needed some love.   And maybe that there were parents  who needed to know that strangers in the world would share their pain when Noah left this life.  Of course, it turned out to be a real story, not a chain letter, or a trick, and many, many people wanted to help.   WE wanted to help.

So today,  Jason IM’d me the news of his death.  I’m sad.  But I’m glad that I know that there are a million people out there who are probably also sad about losing Noah.  And that cared enough to send him a card.   It makes me feel better to know that the world is connected.  That we aren’t as alone as we feel sometimes.

I’m going to hug and kiss my son an awful lot tonight.

Enough of this sappy post.  I’m going back to work:)

For those of you who know about Noah:

In lieu of cards and flowers, the family is asking that donations be made in Noah’s name to either of the following:

Department of Pediatrics and Oncology University of Michigan
1500 East Medical Center Drive
D4202MPB
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-5718
Checks payable to: The University of Michigan — Noah’s Pediatric Oncology Fund

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan
230 Huron View Blvd.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103
Checks payable to: Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan — Memo: Noah Biorkman

I burned 900 calories in Zumba class! (dear god I love Zumba no matter how ridiculous I look!)

I bought myself a BodyBugg, the cool little tool they use on the Biggest Loser to become obsessive about calories in and calories out.  You wear this little arm band, (and I also bought the watch-like digital display) and you can see in real time the calorie output of your day.  Then, the trick is to input your food intake, and duh, the intake should be less than then output.  MIRACLE of all miracles, you should lose weight.

But right now, it’s just so fun to see how many calories I burn doing different things.  I won’t post every single one…(look out for the tweets on it though!)  It takes OCD to a whole new level.

But here is the thing.  For someone who likes positive reinforcement a whole lot (hmmm, who could that be?) it is a really neat tool.  It’s pretty compelling to look down at lunch time, see 1050 calories burned for the day, know that my goal is 2500, and think, “I am going to walk outside for 30 minutes.”   You can also set up alerts to give you a beep when you meet your goal.  It’s only a freaking beep, but wow did it excite me a whole lot.

My Englishman doesn’t think my use of this $300 contribution to the BILLION dollar weight loss industry will make a bit of difference, but it’s a fun tool for now.  If I can actually keep track of the input I might even lose some weight.   (Oh and stop eating those freaking tootsie rolls too.)  I have a coaching session at the end of the week with my BodyBugg coach, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’m off to climb some stairs.  Wanna guess how many calories?

And what I keep coming back to is that I want to connect with cool and interesting people.  And I want to keep taking small steps in my life to continue to make progress in different areas of my life.

So, in that vein, I thought tonight I would write about two cool people who I think you should know about.  One is Sean Duffy and the other is his brother Kevin Duffy. I met Sean and his brother Kevin at the Digital Marketing Mixer last week.  These two guys had a great energy and I shared a table with them for lunch.  Something about their energy and their enthusiasm about the conference and the topics of social media made them very interesting to me.  I shared some stories about my company, Promega, and how we are venturing into social media.  They kindly offered me some advice, and I didn’t think I would hear much from them beyond the charming business card exchange.

But, then, on my first blog attempt, I get a comment from Sean.  Then I get a long email with a list of biotech people to follow on Twitter, and some great words of encouragement about my blogging efforts. See, that’s cool.  He didn’t need to do that for me.  That’s a quality person, and one reason why this social media stuff is so appealing to me.  I am happy that I got to meet Sean and Kevin, and I am going to send them work when I have the opportunity to.  They run The Duffy Agency, and because of the way they helped me out, I will recommend them to my company, I will recommend them to my friends, and I will recommend them to YOU.   Because, to me, that’s what this is all about…personal relationships. Meeting people who make a difference in your life.  Maybe it’s just a small thing, something that makes you smile.   Or just someone who goes a little beyond the regular call of duty.

So, I ask you, dear readers, have you made a difference to someone today?  It doesn’t take a lot, but a small exchange can make this whole social media thing worth while!

So, one of Leo’s tips is to wake up.  EARLY. TO BLOG.

I’ll admit, in the cold of winter, the idea of getting up early to blog is a little more appealing than getting up to exercise, but just barely.  Leo wakes up at 5ish, and starts his day off calmly before his children get up.  He blogs a lot about how getting up early transformed his life, allowing him enough time in a day to get things done.

So I have a question for all the bloggers out there… When do you make time to do this?  Is it something that just comes easy and naturally, that time doesn’t seem to matter? Or is it a discipline, something that you need to work into the rest of your life?

I’m not sure that I want to do this.  I know I should.  I know I can.  I know that if I was dedicated to my job and my outlook on life, I would marry what I say with what I actually do.

So here is the maiden blogging  voyage.  I am sure that I am going to look back on these words and cringe.  To think that I was a) reluctant and b) so stubborn.

Thanks to BitchBuzz

I have spent the last 15 years of my career giving advice on great design, great user experience, how to create digital solutions that match both business needs and user needs.  But this shoe maker has no shoes. I admit, that in my personal life, I try to stay away from the computer.  I am not one of those people who likes to spend 1000 hours on their mobile phones, their computers, texting, or whatnot. Maybe deep down, I think…who really cares so much about my ramblings (sound the collective “awwwww”).

So here are my goals for this blog.  It is a social experiment for me.  Having just attended the MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer in Chicago, and seeing so many inspiring people, not to mention someone I have been reading forever, and don’t tell my husband, have a HUGE crush on, Dr. BJ Fogg, I learned that you have to start small.  This is a great lesson for me.   I always have grandiose ideas and goals, and I get frustrated when they don’t come to fruition.  I read Leo’s Blog EVERY SINGLE DAY.  You’d think I would have figured this out by now. Duh.  I just need to do little things.  Like take a WALK.  Not sign up for the Chicago Marathon.  Like write a blog entry, not a freaking BOOK.  (yeah, my name is Katie and I’m an overachiever.)

I was unable to muster graduate school at Stanford (but damn, I could have,  if I could have just filled out the application(-small start-)rather than just dreamed of my dissertation defense (delusions of grandeur).  However, I am going to pretend that I was one of Dr. Fogg’s esteemed and highly sucessful students and take a lesson forward.  This blog is my small start. Tomorrow I am going to do it again.  Who knows, maybe after a few small starts, I will be a famous blogger who can go on the speaking circuit….wouldn’t it be great if I could be on a panel with Dr. Fogg…..I could make a MILLION dollars with my book deal…….

Wow.  This starting small thing doesn’t come naturally to me.  But here goes nothing.