For the last 15 years, I've been hearing about my brother's bachelor friend "Artie."  The quintessential "early adopter," Artie has been a limitless source of tech-gadget knowledge and "obsolete" graphics cards and TV's.  Because Artie took a shine to my brother way back when Mike was a starving grad student, he became one of Artie's designated recipients of techie treasures.

Mike also got to witness the evolution of Artie's 15-years-in-the-making, nothing-but-the best home theater system.  My brother is given to a wee bit of exaggeration (all in the noble goal of telling a good story), and I admit--I was skeptical about this grand system that supposedly made a suburban split-level rumble and shake during disaster movies.

Well, after a decade and a half of hearing about the famous Artie, I finally finagled an invitation to his man-cave.  Along with a small party of other unbelievers.  The movie choice:  2012.  Nothing like the implosion of the entire earth for demoing the 7-foot speakers.

It was...mind-blowing.  Seats that are wired to receive special coding rock and pitch along with car chases, earthquakes, and volcano fireballs.  The sound enveloped me--oh, the dynamics and nuances of the audio were like nothing I have ever heard.  It was a complete immersion experience--all in the basement of a modest brick rambler on a cul de sac.  Artie gave us some of the history of his research when we paused for pizza--and recounted his haggling with dealers and 6-month-long electrician selection process.  He watched our faces with childlike glee as we took in the full effect of what he had built.

So what does this have to do with anything?  (I admit, I was just eager to write about Artie--but I'm trying to stay relevant here.)  The thing is, Artie isn't just some basement-dwelling geek with no life.  He is an influential Capitol Hill lobbyist who works long days and commutes home to the suburbs. 

I was thinking about what Artie had patiently invested in and built out of sheer passion.  This wasn't about money.  I'm not exactly sure what lights that fire in Artie to spend hours after work tinkering with audio controls.  But the fire and the joy are there--and they are contagious. 

The whole evening got me thinking....

Work isn't work when it's play. 

Play flows out of the mere joy of doing something.

Joy flows out of inner passion.

I know work can't always be play--but I am idealistic enough to believe that it can center on play.

What individual pursuits am I truly passionate about?  Like, not just happy to spend time doing...I mean, ARTIE-passionate.  Lose-yourself-in-the-midst-of-it passionate.  Create-something-beautiful passionate.

Writing...and teaching. Pure joy.

And all of that is just as valuable online--in some ways more valuable--than in face-to-face interactions.

So I'm thinking--as I plan, look for 4-leaf-clover keywords and dig out answers to all the how-to questions I've got--about how I can incorporate writing that entertains--and maybe even teaches something valuable--as it promotes.   

Oh, and by the way, I've been invited to Artie's again on the 12th.  :-)