Moving along on the eight passions front: it’s time to bring up my dirty little secret: I’m a fan of stock car racing, or as most would say, “I’m a NASCAR fan”.

I do not know how this happened. Somewhere around 1998, I realized I was going out of my way to watch the race on TV every Sunday. Two years later I’m watching minor league races and in possession of far too much stock car trivia.

Here’s the appeal: the intense competition, the engineering challenge, and the business intricacies.

My mania is a little down from its peak these days, but, be warned: I will still talk about this topic endlessly (in fact, I’ve set a word limit in this post because I am worried about running on and on!)

Conversation-wise, the topic doesn’t need to be limited to stock car racing: I’m happy to discuss any sort of motorsport you’re in to: F1, WRC, or whatever. Even the workings of automobiles or the automotive industry are fair game.

Okay, that’s my word limit!

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I’ve been lax about rolling out the remainder of my eight passions which I started going on about here. Why such a slackard? Mostly, I wasn’t sure I could come up with seven more items about which I could claim to be truly passionate.

A story in the news the other day however set me straight. Here’s the story:

HONOLULU — Isolated from most of the world, Midway Atoll could open to visitors next year on a limited basis.

[…]

Midway, located 1,250 miles northwest of Honolulu, is at the tip of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, which was established in June.

So, where’s the passion? Oh baby, here it is:

Hawaii
I am mad about Hawaii. I’ve been several times. As mentioned above, Midway Atoll is part of the Hawaiian Islands. And though not a tropical paradise, I do hope to get to Midway some day.

Hawaii is easily one of my top-three passions. I love the sun, the land, the sea, the people, and it’s history. Forever I’ll remember my wife and I walking around the giant heiau by the Wailua River on the island of Kauai; fascinated by the massive structure, frightened by the noises coming from the tall grass, awed by the aura of the place.

History
I love history and the Battle of Midway was really my introduction to that subject outside of school. I remember repeatedly reading a paperback history about the battle. I believe I was 11 or 12 at the time. I still read quite a bit of history mostly WW II and the American Revolution.

But, let there be no doubt: I want to know the history of everything. I can’t get down half a city block without wanting to know the past of some building or street. Nevermind when I find an unexplained artifact in the woods. My behavior is downright compulsive.

Maps
I am also compulsive about maps and anytime I see one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands mentioned I need to consult a map to see just where in the chain the island lies. Here’s a map now!

Almost any map will hold my attention for 30 minutes. Especially if it is someplace I’ve lived or visited or read about or want to visit. Especially if it is out of date or old. Especially if it is some combination of the previous. You get the point.

In Closing
Okay, so there are three more passions. I realize that I am not presenting them in rank order. In fact, these three are probably very near the top of my list!

Hmm!

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Talking about “schmoozing” a.k.a “networking” in his book The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki makes the following statements:

If you can only talk about your business, you’re a boring person. Good schmoozers are passionate about multiple diverse interests. A benefit of these passions is that they provide additional ways to connect to people.

He then goes on to list his passions:

[I]’ve made many business connections through hockey — and I’ve made many hockey connections through business.

Just in case you don’t like hockey, here are the other points through which we can connect: Audi cars, Breitling watches, tinnitus/Meniere’s Disease, boxers (the dog breed), adopting children, London, digital photography, and Macintosh. With these eight passions, I can connect to anyone in ther world.

He’s making a great and obvious point (or like so many things, at least it sounds obvious after the fact.) So, it got me to thinking about my own Eight Passions.

I don’t have the whole list together yet (I’m missing the other seven), but here is #8: The Brady Bunch.

I’m serious. I can’t quantify it, but looking back over my life, there seems to be a very strong correlation between how much you know about The Brady Bunch and how much we have in common.

If there was ever a period in your life where you watched one or more Brady Bunch reruns on a weekday afternoon we’ve got something to talk about.

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