Happy New Year

I saw a quote from Barbara Eden this morning (remember her? She played Jeannie in 'I Dream of Jeanie'. Anyway, she said 'Every New Year's, I resolve to have a better year than I had before'. What do you think? Is that a New Year's resolution you could keep? Isn't it really all just a mental attitude that makes our year happy and bright? Let's do that in 2015.

I saw something yesterday that is clever in a project management kind of way. I will not subject you to every verse of 'The Twelve Days of PM Christmas', and will just show you the twelfth day. Be sure to read it in a way that let's the rhymes fall into the song's cadence.
On the twelfth day of my project, my clients sent to me:
12 signed changes
11 interfaces
10 screen designs
9 form revisits
8 stories added
7 new sub-systems
6 scope additions
5 new stories
4 new features
3 epics
2 use cases
And requirements verbally

Funny, right? If you don't think so, it is you who have missed the humor in it and not me. No takebacks.

I cannot see if I shared this before or not, but this is a really clever way to view famous movie quotes. As charts. You know me and those visual cues.

Have you taken down your Christmas lights or are you the last one in your neighborhood to keep them up? Maybe through New Year's? Well, in celebration of the ending of the lighting season, check out this whole block that has synchronized their lights together.

Here's what we grandparent's think this funny. I cannot imagine the grandkids agreeing, though.

Here's what I think is funny. I really do listen to the news during my morning commute and see if anything sounds like an idea to share with you. This story happened yesterday and the comic immediately followed.

No photos today, but how about a short video of the nightly Disneyland fireworks show? I captured it with my iPhone, so it sometimes has trouble focusing. The scenes with the cartoons is displayed on It's a Small World exterior. That is a great (but kind of secret, don't tell anyone) place to watch, even though the castle is very picturesque.

Which president said 'This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men'? Do you know? Many historians believe Andrew Johnson was the worst of all the presidents. Do you agree? You can read about some of his policies and beliefs here. Modern historians may be ranking another as equally bad. Here's a quote from the above linked story. 'Among historians today, James Buchanan is the one president who is consistently ranked as low as Johnson. Buchanan’s seeming indifference to the onset of the Civil War, and his own failings as a president, were monumental.' I am glad no one is ranking me like that.

Great! After this story, I can no longer safely wave to family or friends in photographs. They can copy fingerprints from a photo? Unbelievable.

As my parting comment, I wonder which of you have considered why a dry spaghetti strand ALWAYS breaks into multiple pieces when it is bent. If you have, science has provided an answer.

Have a Great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I'll see you on the other side (of the year-end, I meant. I am not thinking that either of us will pass away, God willing and the creek don't rise).