GSB Mennonite

Gringo News

Today I also need to post again regarding some friends of ours from DC that moved down to Bolivia to live/work at the Stansberry Children's Home. They recently adopted an adorable daughter...and last week Alex survived a scropion sting! Yikes! :) They've got a LiveJournal site at Gringo News and another one regarding the work projects and Julie has a photo journal (see example below) off her personal site.

Goshen

We went back to Goshen this past weekend. Good time to relax, rest, and enjoy the cold winter weather. A friend had Microsoft Streets and Trips with GPS, which was very cool to play with. Roadtrips would never be the same with a GPS device and a laptop. :)

MS Ultimate & Feedback Skills

MS Ultimate has been a fun part of the summer. While I don't get home until 8:30 (for the early games) and around 10 for the later games, it's a great way to ward off the summer Seattle eating habits. Generally I've eaten out a lot more than in Chicago, in part because of people visiting and also because of various social dinners with other interns.

Returning to MS Ultimate, summer league is...well, summer league. Some people don't seem to know what Spirit of the Game really means and probably haven't ever read it for that matter. And I being the rather competitive person that I am sometimes (too frequently) won't hesitate to inform people (in ways that unfortunately does not exemplify my Impactful Feedback skills).

Speaking of Impact Feedback, a Senior Corporate VP today (which basically means he runs one of Microsoft's business groups (i.e. only seven or so in the company) said that one of the most difficult skills for managers and executives is providing feedback, both the "positives and negatives." For all of you headed to Chicago GSB be prepared to hear that message, although we call it "plus and delta." :) Also, he noted that the people skills become increasing more important as you move up in an organization and in his org a number of managers have 'peaked' due to the lack of improvement in those areas. Perhaps that can be a gentle example for any incoming first years frustrated with their summer 360 evals, MBTI, CSI, etc. :)

[Edited for dave's enlightened correction.]

Wikipedia: Mennonite

For those of you into Wikipedia and curious, they have an excellent history and interesting read on Mennonites.

Mennonite Weekly Review

When I was growing up we used to jokingly call leftovers 'Mennonite Weekly review', in reference to a weekly publication of the same name. A few weeks ago they published a short article about web logs (shameless thanks for the link).

If you're curious they also have a lengthly list of Mennonite-related links.

Mennonites

I had an interesting conversation today about Mennonites and Amish...and some of the difference between Canadian Mennonites and more 'mainstream' US Mennonites.

The following link (from Third Way Cafe - one of the links under Mennonite links) is a great primer on various questions - Who are the Mennonites? Enjoy! :)

Mennonite Blogs

While Googling to check the rankings of my site, I came across some other Mennonite blogs. Tree and leaf is an interesting one. The pictures are definitely worth the visit, especially if you want to be reminded of college adventures.

Mennonites and Linux

I found this interesting little blurb about Mennonites and Linux as I performed some Google searches to see how my site ranked (not well enough yet).

Leftovers as Tapas

When I was growing up (still am) we would often call leftover dinners 'Mennonite weekly review.' I thought maybe we should change the name to something that uses the word 'Tapas.'

Tapas restaurants have become much more popular here in DC. Jaleo was the first one that I discovered a few years ago. Since then many more have been opened including the very nice Las Tasca in Clarendon (one of the first US openings of the UK group).

But back to leftovers...calling leftovers 'tapas' - and presenting them as such on small plates, seems to make eating leftovers much more appealing. At least it worked the other night! :)