I got a speeding ticket earlier this afternoon. It seemed like I was going with the traffic but got singled out. That put me in a “why does the world hate me?” mind frame. I have also just received a “No” from Bill Kurtis on a request for a blurb for Tripio. On top of all of that, I am a lifelong, die-hard Ohio State Buckeye football fan and Urban Meyer announced his retirement a few days ago. Why does the world hate me, indeed?
I was still considering this on my couch after dinner, when I glanced over to see my downstairs computer. It was not at all far from where I had parked my backside. With just little effort, I could check my Tripio gmail inbox. Maybe some good news awaits me there? Or, wait! What if there is no news? Or worse, bad news? I was in the thralls of “intermittent reinforcement”, at least as I understand the concept. If I knew one way or the other, I would not be tempted at all. I had just recently discovered the term in the Alan Jacobs’ “Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction”. I congratulated myself on my new name for not being currently able to do anything constructive. That afterglow didn’t last long however. No longer able to contain myself, I had to check the Tripio gmail. It was five steps and a click away.
You read before you the words of a changed man. I did in fact receive news. News I consider to be great, in fact. In my email was a response to the first blurb request I had sent for Tripio. It was from Kevin Knox. The response I read in my email was a the first real review of Tripio. This was from someone who was the Head of Coffee Quality with Starbucks during the time Tripio was set. Mr. Knox appears in the book as the “coffee God.” He had just finished Tripio and found it “a vivid and authentic journey through the heady early days of Starbucks expansion.”
Wow. Damn. It is hard to say just how great I feel. I simply say this: Even if the world still hates me, it’s alright because Kevin Knox liked Tripio.
“May I help who’s next?”
Comment now or think it over-both would be appreciatiated.