Steel Kaleidoscopes

Michael Jackson

Although the top of his Afro barely reached his brothers' elbows, Michael Jackson was the sensational star that rocketed the Jackson 5 to stardom.

His bright, boyish look was engaging, his toothy smile was camera-ready, his dance moves were contagious and his pitch-perfect pop-star voice redefined Top 40.

As he grew older, Michael Jackson earned the title "King of Pop." Records like "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" made him millions. He was one of those rare talents who was capable of raising the performance bar even higher. His tours were sold out months in advance and his popularity was worldwide.

Along the way, though, his weirdness created a sordid shadow. The reconstruction of his face. The odd interviews. Building Neverland. The short-lived marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. The dangling baby. The public child molestation accusations not once, but twice. Each of these creepy chapters was like a needle in a voodoo doll.

It is the child molestation charges that will serve as the tragic undoing of Michael Jackson. He bought his way out of these charges more than a decade ago. It won't happen again. When the evidence is overwhelming and justice truly needs to be served, money doesn't matter.

Regardless of the outcome, Michael Jackson, perhaps the greatest entertainer of our generation, is shackled and irrelevant.

What a shame.

Comfy

Couldn't resist this picture, courtesy of Free Love Freeway.

Robert Frost

Forty-two years ago today, poet Robert Frost died in Boston.

"The Road Not Taken" is perhaps his best-known poem, but it is "The Armful" that best exemplifies the fact that we all have bad days now and then:

For every parcel I stoop down to seize
I lose some other off my arms and knees,
And the whole pile is slipping, bottles, buns,
Extremes too hard to comprehend at once.
Yet nothing I should care to leave behind.
With all I have to hold with hand and mind
And heart, if need be, I will do my best.
To keep their building balanced at my breast.
I crouch down to prevent them as they fall;
Then sit down in the middle of them all.
I had to drop the armful in the road
And try to stack them in a better load.

Winter in New England

White swirling snow, soft fuzzy flakes with a scorpion's sting.

Pitch black driving to work, pitch black driving home.

Drifting snow, growing taller than the window sills.

Gray and white days, the world's collective breath visible as the lungs work a little harder.

Crunchy snow, grinding plows, stranded cars.

It's a brittle world under this blanket of white, red noses, hacking coughs and a chill that's hard to shake.

Winter in New England. It's not as pretty as the postcard.

New World of Recruitment

Cutting-edge recruiters recognize the challenges of sourcing the best and brightest in an era when the youth work movement is fully wired.

The Internet is a fertile ground, filled with candidates spinning their wheels in the breakdown lane and others zipping forward in the HOV lane. How, then, does a recruiter find the blue-chip players on the Information Highway and avoid the candidates miring in mediocrity?

According to Kevin Wheeler, a thought leader in the human capital space, social networking and blogs will play a major role as emerging technologies for recruiters. Wheeler spoke at an "Innovative Sourcing Strategies to Meet Just-in-Time Hiring Needs" webinar yesterday, hosted by Hire.com.

Wheeler believes that recruiters who spend four hours a week browsing social networking sites and blogs will find valuable nuggets of information relative to their hiring needs.

Identifying the "connectors" on social networking sites is like finding a major player's Rolodex. Who's the hub of the network who knows everyone? The most connected nodes will produce the most referrals.

Scouring blogs by industry and occupation, using RSS, is another way to identify candidates with sought-after talents. Because of the nature of the medium, this is especially true when sourcing technical positions.

Career sites like Monster will always be valuable tools for recruiters. But the emerging phenomenon of social networks (see Monster Networking), blogs and RSS are global, generational tools that will help recruiters develop talent pools and relationships before the rec is even open.

Wheeler calls this "pre-sourcing," anticipating and being ready. Looking for people after receiving a rec is a losing proposition.

Generation Y is using these tools.  Blogs, which have been around since 1999, have entered the mainstream with a flourish. Social networking and RSS are becoming household words.

The best candidates have always been out there. It's the tools that continue to emerge.

Gray Socks

They sit in the back corner of the drawer, often ignored as the blacks and browns see prime time of the work week.

They're often ignored when the whites come out, envious that the whites will be enjoying a grueling, sweaty, calorie-burning workout.

They're warm and fuzzy, but seem mismatched, even though they're always intertwined as a pair.

They're the minority socks, often ignored, rarely engaged.

The washing machine would be a thrill ride, but they're rarely ticketed to go, a short stay in the hamper but a pipe dream.

They outlive the other socks, sometimes spending years in the back corner of the drawer, while the blacks, browns and whites live hard and play hard, burning out before fading away.

Gray socks have it easy, a rarity in the metatarsal rotation.

Perfect Summer Day

Awake, alert and watching the sunrise at 6:16 on a summer morning, I have a leg up on the day ahead.

Bolton, 10:11 a.m.

A smooth glass of cool, crisp, flinty Pinot Grigio by the pool seems a long way off.

Dan Clark

Nothing like a motivational speaker to get your head spinning and heart racing heading into the weekend.

Dan Clark, an author and athlete, spoke about "driving change from within" to nearly 1,000 Monsters yesterday at the company's annual international sales conference at the Sheraton in Boston.

Clark illustrated the importance of taking charge of your career and not waiting for decisions to be made for you. Stuff happens, and you can either step forward or mire in mediocrity. Clark put a new, refreshing spin on the theory that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

For a company to be great, it starts with people. Smart people. Motivated people. And being a team just doesn't cut it. Being a winning team is the way to build bridges, move buildings and cut a new path toward product and service excellence.

At Monster, we believe that we're not just growing a company; instead, we're in a position to develop the industry. Put a speaker like Dan Clark in front of this group and it just adds fuel to the flame.

Mike's Pastry

Chocolate-chip cannolis. Chocolate mousse cake. Chocolate eclairs. Apple strudel. Chocolate-mousse cannolis. Pistachio gelati. Green apple mazipan.

Boconnottos. Rum cakes. Napoleans. Almond biscotti. Tiramisu. Strawberry cheesecake. Boston Creme cake. Chocolate brownies.

Yum.

Lunch or dinner in the North End just isn't the same without a stop here.