David G. Johnson

Recently I sat in a presentation by a friend of mine who spent some time talking about the “Meritocracy” approach to relationship with God.  This is the idea that doing things we think He will approve of will cause us to be looked upon with favor, whereas neglecting such things or (worse) doing things He disapproves of will cause us to be looked upon disfavorably. There are many religious traditions which brainwa… er, teach people this way, and I happened to be raised in one. Perhaps you’re familiar with this train of thought:

Today, I did something good! Now I get to take one step closer to God. Whoops! I did something bad too… hope He doesn’t burn me!

As with most things in life, there’s an analogy from either Monty Python or The Matrix. Python wins this one. Nobody could’ve said it better:

When will we ever learn?

Even after Twitter’s exposure in the news over the last few months — Mumbai terror attacks, the plane landing in the Hudson, etc. — I still get asked this question by people still trying to figure out what Twitter is all about.

Then, after rather ineptly explaining that it’s a service whereby you’re constantly answering the question “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less for dozens, hundreds, or perhaps thousands of “followers”… inevitably the blank stare and the “What for?” ensue.

Well if you’re like me and you can’t seem to help people “get it” without spending lots of time (I recently was asked to teach the concept to a group of marketing students and it took over 2 hours), here’s an 8-minute clip from Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. He manages to do an amazing job of conveying the concept in a relatively short period of time.

And um… no guarantees. If your wife, husband, significant other, employer, business partner, etc still doesn’t get it after this… you’re on your own.

(Unless that is you’re looking to figure out how to use it for business. In that case, I’m ready to teach. Just head on over to the Epiphany Marketing site and sign up for updates. We’ll be sure to notify you when registration opens for our upcoming training course on social media for business.)

Oh… and if you’re already addicted to Twitter, be sure to Tweet This and follow me!

I seem to recall some wise person telling me as a child:

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Maybe our “bailouts” and “economic stimulus” ideas don’t sound very good to you… but the whole thing reminds me of an adage that I have come to believe after years of working to master personal finances:

You can’t borrow your way out of debt.

-David G. Johnson

And you can quote me on that.

All of this wise thinking today is inspired by Fred Thompson:

Hat tip: Michael Pink

This one came my way today via Twitter (hat tip: @micahfries). As the Daddy of a 3-year-old, it nailed me. If you have a little girl, fair warning: get a tissue.

Now if these aren’t adorable and irresistible, then I don’t know what is! Here’s the live feed from the Shiba Inu puppies:

My website is now my 3-and-a-half-year-old daughter’s favorite site. (Sorry, Wiggles!)

Ever wondered what a “Credit Default Swap” is? Clark & Dawes from Australia explain… I guess they gave up on trying to do President Bush’s accent.

And to think… she hasn’t ditched me, dissed me, or decapitated me!

Ten years ago today… well, I won’t get into the digestive system trouble I was experiencing — it was memorable, but only because of the mixture of excitement, anticipation, and anxiety over what was happening later…

The fact was that at 6:30pm on that Friday in 1998, I was going to watch the most gorgeous creature God could’ve possibly designed walk down the aisle… toward me! And I was going to commit my life to her. The thought was staggering…

It had been a whirlwind courtship. 7 months earlier, I had walked into a service where she was singing and leading worship. She instantly grabbed my heart. That very day, I took her for her first motorcycle ride. My roommate stood with jaw agape as I asked her to go for a ride with me — he knew that I had made it my habit not to date. Thankfully, he closed his mouth (could’ve gotten embarrassing).

Two months later I knelt down in front of a small crowd of close friends and family (at her Mom’s birthday party) and asked the most important question of my life. Thankfully… she said, “Yes!” (And smiled, too!)

Since then, she’s discovered nearly all of my many faults. We’ve had ups and downs, sometimes it seems like more downs than ups. Some of the dreams we’ve dreamed are still in the future. And yet, miraculously… she’s still here.

Jill Johnson, my wonderful bride!

Today, she’s more beautiful than ever. I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of getting to plumb the depths of her inner beauty, which has revealed the source of her outer beauty. With each passing day, week, month, year, and now decade (!) I learn more and more how truly blessed I really am to have her by my side. To say that I trust her heart completely is an understatement. To say that she completes me, even more so.

Without her, I would be so incredibly deficient. She is truly a gift from God.

I’ve always said that I married up. How far up is something I thought I understood, but today continue to learn how much I didn’t know.

She’s my joy, my prize, my delight. She’s the mother of our most amazing daughter. She’s an enterprising, creative, thoughtful, gifted, and talented person.

And somehow… she’s with me! I am continually humbled and reduced to gratitude for that. I still have no explanation for why she would have chosen to partner with me for life. Nor for her great patience and strength of character that would cause her to stick by that decision.
Thank you, Sweetheart, for the absolute best 10 years of my life. Thank you for sharing them with me. Thank you for overlooking my faults and for somehow loving me.

Here’s to many more decades!

With all my love… always,

David

And now for something completely different in the battle for copyright controls on YouTube… When all else fails, give the content away!

While the Python troupe aren’t the first to make this move, they just might be the funniest! In all seriousness, this is truly something that could only occur in the 21st Century.

Let’s face it, everyone who has tried to fight “piracy” on YouTube has ended up smelling like elderberries. I’m all for copyrights (I own a bunch myself), but you aren’t going to stop theft on YouTube… nor are you going to win over any fans.

Python reacts in style… give it away (in higher quality, no less), but ask people to buy your stuff! Pefecto!

(Hat tip: copywriter Michel Fortin, via Twitter @michelfortin)

Here’s a remarkably simple analysis of how things got to where they are… from a pair of British comics.

As this was produced in 2007, it’s become remarkably prophetic!

Hat tip: Sara Hand.

What can I say? Having a name like mine is a little like being named “John Smith.”

Don’t get me wrong… I love my name. On the one hand, my last name represents my heritage. It identifies me with my father’s side of the family. It’s a heritage I’m thankful for and proud of — proud of in the sense that you can be proud of things you had nothing to do with.  On the other hand, my first name carries special meaning to me.

The difficulty, of course, is that there are just so many other people with my name.  But now… now I have the ability to help people find me by telling them my name and saying, “Not just any David Johnson, but ‘THE’ David Johnson… dot com.”

Not to be megalomaniacal… I realize there are lots of other important people named David Johnson… I just happened to be “THE” one you know! (or… at least one of the ones you know…)

If you came here looking for one of my illustrious namesakes, then perhaps you should poke around before you go and see what’s interesting.

If you’re a friend, colleague, business associate, acquaintance, student, client, partner, or family member… won’t you take the time to subscribe to my feed? This is a way we can stay in touch. Also, you can find social networking updates and blog entries in the “Find Me Elsewhere” section. Follow them to your heart’s content and subscribe (via RSS feeds or e-mail) to the stuff that interests you.

Thanks for coming by!