Hi!

Can I aks you a queshion?

Hi!

That’s the second tweet from a Twitter account I decided to start this morning, @bleutoot

If you’re not already a listener to “Back To Work” the 5by5 podcast of Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin, you’re missing out – not just on the joke here but also on the excellent weekly discussions of productivity, work, career, getting started, getting unstuck and quitting your day job.

Also: asking better questions, workflow, email, organization, non sequiturs, rambling, movie references and … where was I?

So I woke up this morning (Friday, December 2, 2011) and decided I was going to start a “blue toot” Twitter account for the express purpose of tweeting that phrase above. It took me several tries to get the captchas correct to register a new gmail account and then find a suitable handle on Twitter (@bluetoot was taken) and I was all set.

I’ve been listening to eps 40 – 43 all week while I run at the gym so “blue toot”, Dusty Baker and “can I aks you a queshion?” have been on my mind and in my ears a lot.

So, having already received a star from Merlin that was the highlight of my week, I decided to jump in with both feet and see where I could go from there.

I’ll start heaping the praise now, because it can’t be understated: Back To Work has really kept me sane in the past year.

My wife and I had our 4th kid.
I didn’t get a promotion I wanted.
I became a runner (even finished my first half marathon in October).
I’m working on writing a book about finding running, having “won” NaNoWriMo on two occasions.
I got a blog post up on CNN’s GeekOut blog.

In short – too late – Back To Work has been a fantastic sounding board, source of inspiration (*gasp*) and safe place where other folks who struggle with doing the things they want to do grapple with that fact.
Over and over again.
All week every week.

I think the running & writing themes of those early episodes (and, basically, a ton of the other episodes too) speak directly to me at a very core level.

I listen while I run, I write after I’m done. It’s a very 1-1 relationship between my listenership and doing the “work” I want to do.

Anyhow, I won’t drone on anymore about how awesome Merlin, Dan, 5by5 & Back To Work are. You know that already if you’ve read this far.

I’ll just say this one last thing: I hope to surprise, delight and make you laugh with @bleutoot going forward.

It’s the least I can do to say thank you.