Andrea James

Do you have a bucket list? That is, a list of things you’d like to accomplish before you kick the bucket? I never created one for myself — the truth is, my reverse-bucket-list is a lot more spectacular than any list … Continue reading → - Andrea James

I finally did it. I bought some five-finger minimalist running shoes. My goodness they are ugly. Have you ever seen anyone wearing these? It’s a startling realization when you do. A family member of mine wore them all around Ireland … Continue reading → - Andrea James

My old alarm clock went off this morning before my mobile phone did. That’s odd, I thought as I scrambled over to shut the thing up. The dumb alarm clock — as in, not smart like my phone — is … Continue reading → - Andrea James

In case you haven’t heard, the United Nations is saying that the world population will reach 7 billion today. Happy Halloween? Of course, the number and date are symbolic rough estimates, since there’s no way to count everyone on the … Continue reading → - Andrea James

Rose Egge was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year at age 25. She has given so much of herself through her writing in her blog at Komo News. (Rose was an intern for a brief time when I was a reporter … Continue reading → - Andrea James

My initial reaction to the #OccupyWallStreet protests is this: Our public schools are failing many of our kids. This is not new and I’m not the first to say it. People know that to compete in a global, information-based and … Continue reading → - Andrea James

Simplicity is all the rage right now. And in so many walks of life, too. Do you ever wonder why? Why do we want to pare down, cut back, sift out, and reduce to the essentials? The world is no … Continue reading → - Andrea James

Business travel is both exhausting and exciting. I love arriving at a new destination and switching “on.” But getting there? Oy. Like most things, you get better with practice. Here is my system for getting through airport security as quickly … Continue reading → - Andrea James

I believe that great people are God’s gift to us. Every once in a while, people come along who advance our understanding of math, science and technology. Great minds whose genius changes our lives for the better. Sir Isaac Newton. … Continue reading → - Andrea James

. . . Apple speaks, and it suddenly becomes OK to stop working and pay attention. Engadget live blog New York Times live blog - Andrea James

It’s not easy being out in front. I first learned this when I did investigative reporting. Even though I knew my information was sound and that my story was true, I got a nervous feeling in my stomach the night … Continue reading → - Andrea James

A quick note about my new blog design: For the past two years, this blog has been custom-styled using the German Newspaper theme for WordPress. It was elegant and professional, but it took more work to maintain on the back … Continue reading → - Andrea James

One of the most popular posts on this blog is one from October 2010: Maybe you are good at math and never knew it. People get to it by searching all kinds of math-related anxiety phrases, such as “will I ever be good at math?,” “why am I not good at math?” and even some folks [...] - Andrea James

This post is an ode to the health care workers — doctors, nurses, lab researchers and scientists. I salute you. Because biology has got to be the most infuriating of the basic sciences. And I don’t know how you work each day with the maddening messiness of organisms. It has got to be like dealing [...] - Andrea James

I grew up in New Jersey on Monmouth Bay, near the Keyport docks, across from which the Twin Towers stood. When the attacks happened, I was in Washington, D.C., attending college. I’m mourning today. But, I’ll be flying. I’ve had this web site in some form or another since 2000. Here is what I posted [...] - Andrea James

How droll, I’m going to talk about our soggy weather. If you’re visiting from outside of Seattle, all you need to know is that it always rains here. Nothing else worth reading. No really, this blog post is super boring. . . . . Seattleites, shh, gather ’round. We are so lucky. I want to [...] - Andrea James

Over at GeekWire today, Mónica Guzmán talks about how she bravely left behind her smart phone on her summer vacation. It’s well worth a read. One of her sentences, referring to her interactions with her husband, made me laugh out loud: It’s not reasonable to tweet while he’s asking me a question (“Sorry, what?”) or to [...] - Andrea James

Reject slippery slope arguments Give humanity, and yourself, more credit. It’s amazing how often we accept a “slippery slope” rationale when  ideas and decisions are better evaluated case-by-case. Remember that a “slippery slope” argument is not the same as setting legal precedent. If you’re really that confused or money is involved, go ahead and consult a lawyer. [...] - Andrea James

My first paying job was a regional sales administrator at Radio Shack. That was the summer of 2000, and about 50% of the job was putting in the hours. I had set duties involving culling mountains of sales data in Microsoft Excel, and then large expanses of the day set aside for me to resolve [...] - Andrea James

In American society, there is profound tension and disagreement over the role of rich versus poor, government versus corporations, individual versus collective, scarcity versus abundance. None of these debates are new under the sun, but there’s been extra intensity in argument of late. What’s the problem? The problem arises when people pick a side, make [...] - Andrea James

Being conscious of your own mortality can help you live a better life. This is an ancient truism, and for some reason, I keep seeing it everywhere I’ve turned of late, polished and presented anew. Because he is stepping down from CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs has been repeatedly in the news. In his 2005 commencement [...] - Andrea James

It is two days post Hurricane Irene. If you talk to enough folks, you can detect disappointment in some Northeast corners about how boring the storm was. Why is that? My theory is that people are hungry for adventure and many don’t know how to seek it themselves for risk of losing physical comfort, and [...] - Andrea James

I’m just back from a lovely holiday in Europe. My husband and I try to get out of the country at least once, if not twice, per year. This year, we attended a wedding in the Irish countryside, swam in the Atlantic off of the Canary Islands and shared a pint with friends at a [...] - Andrea James

For a nice overview of the American and global economies, I read Caterpillar’s quarterly earnings reports. They are a wealth of analysis and information! Here’s a snippet from the latest, released today. Sovereign debt problems, political change in the Middle East, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and higher oil prices contributed to slower than [...] - Andrea James

From the front page of my Wall Street Journal: A backup plan to cut the federal deficit and keep the U.S. government from default gained momentum Thursday . . . . . . The so-called Plan B is taking shape in quiet discussions between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and Republican leader Mitch [...] - Andrea James

It’s so important to move your body as much as possible, especially if you are an information economy worker. If you agree, I want to give you some inspiration! I run because I’m lazy. Yes, you read that right. Running is the laziest exercise I can do. I only need sneakers and shorts. I can [...] - Andrea James

You may have noticed the big white ball in the Port of Seattle over the past month. It’s easily the most recognizable thing at the Port, outshining the container cranes and the ferries. The ship is a Sea-Based X-Band Radar Vessel, and it is a sensor for the nation’s  Ballistic Missile Defense System. The [...] - Andrea James

If you’ve followed along for a while, you know that I’m an nuts about downhill skiing. That said, I pretty much can’t stand the minutia involved in getting ready to go to the mountain. I live in a condo building and store my skis in a unit in my building’s basement. To load the skis into [...] - Andrea James

How many time zones are in the continental United States? a) Three b) Four c) Who cares? If you answered (a) you might live in Chicago, or the central time zone. Or, you might live outside of the U.S. and made a bad guess. If you answered (b), you are correct. And you likely live [...] - Andrea James