The Winner

It’s time. The decision has been made. It took hundreds of Facebook friends and Twitter followers, plus uncounted friends outside the social media world. There were close to 75 nominations from a wide assortment of people. One from a friend I met when I was four years old, one from a friend I met just a few months ago. Dozens of the nominations came from old college friends, and they were curiously among both the very best and the very worst! My son and son-in-law had their favorites (which ended up being the winning name), my daughter and wife had theirs (which was Uncorked, but when I explained why I like the winner they conceded that I had made the best choice).

It finally came down to a decision I had to make on my own. That’s normally quite easy for me, but it wasn’t this time. In part because there were so many nominations! But also because I’ve grown to understand just how much writing a blog identifies you to the world. So be careful, I thought, and choose wisely.

I do that best over dinner and a bottle of wine with D’Aun. Which we had last night (2007 Tofanelli Charbono, if you care). Then I slept on it overnight. And I woke up this morning with a clear victor in mind. It’s not going to please everybody — in fact, this name had the most negative comments of any nominee. But that’s one of the points of a blog: to be different, stand apart, be heard, and possibly make people just a bit uncomfortable.

The winner of the blog naming contest is “Junkyard Wisdom”, nominated by my friend Steve Bagdanov. It should come as no surprise that Steve would know me well enough to nail this. We met when we were 18-years old at Westmont, and quickly became best friends. I was the best man in his wedding, he was the best man in mine. His cynical, sarcastic, smart-ass attitude makes him an ideal friend for me (and clearly helps him in his role as pastor).

Junkyard Wisdom reflects my youth when my family owned junkyards. It reflects the Saturday mornings when all I wanted to do was watch cartoons but instead had to be up early to work in the shop with my Dad. It reflects the long hot summers of pulling parts in the yard. It reflects the wild and zany people that I met in the junkyard. Ultimately, it reflects a major source of learning and experience for me that has shaped who I am. It’s not the only force that shaped me, of course, but it is perhaps the most distinctive.

I worked with my Dad for 25-years at Goble Properties, and at the core of our business were junkyard philosophies that served us well. Though I may not ever want to return to the junkyard, it was still a force in shaping who I am. Ultimately, it was in the junkyard when my understanding of business was formed and my commitment to family was shaped. It was in the junkyard where my faith was tested and pushed, where my cultural understandings were challenged, and where my desire to “rise above” found its motivation. It was in the junkyard where I learned how to swear. It was in the junkyard where I learned bluntness and direct speech. It was in the junkyard where I saw the primal instincts of people: what motivated them, what calmed them, what scared them, and what made them angry.

So, Junkyard Wisdom it is. Can’t wait to see where this goes …