the mind of mags

...to a new location. Please visit me there!

The Empath of the Starship Enterprise, originally uploaded by margaretgouldstewart.

Halloween is always a big deal at Google, and I try to keep it to the geek classics to appeal to my engineering colleagues.

Having spent the last few weeks hoping, praying (I don't do THAT to often) and even volunteering (not as much as I wanted to, but enough to feel a part of it all), I was really quite overwhelmed with emotion as I watched election returns last night and witnessed the election of Barak Obama as the 44th President of the United States.

There are so many reasons why this election feels significant and even a watershed event for America. First, the extraordinary grass roots effort that brought him to the finish line was inspiring to behold. If we could focus that much positive energy from Americans towards things like reforming health care fixing our educational system, and battling environmental challenges, surely we can make a difference in the future of our children and grandchildren.

Of course, there's Senator Obama himself, who somehow is able to appear charismatic but not egotistical. That's an intoxicating combination, especially with the hubris of the last 8 years. He's smart. He's empathetic. He's even chic! He's approachable, aware of his strengths and when he needs to turn to expert advisors, and above all, he's quintessentially American, in the most modern sense. A pundit on NPR today said it best: one of the many errors made by Republican campaign strategists was to think that Joe the Plumber represented American. What an antiquated notion. It's Obama, with his mixed race background, his many moves throughout childhood to lands near and far, his connections to Africa and Indonesia, that represent the new America and resonated with so many of our citizens who've never lived in a house with a white picket fence or the other trappings of yesterday's USA.

What has touched me most of all, though, is trying to imagine what this means to people of color, and specifically African Americans. I would imagine that in their wildest dreams, they thought that someday there would be a black candidate who would so rally the minority vote that he/she would overcome white rascist resistance. But to see this man so broadly supported by white men and woman across America must be, for some, emtionally overwhelming. We not only said, "This guy is OK." We said, "We want this guy, this black guy, to be our leader. For all of us."

For eight years and through two election cycles, I've agonizing over America's inability to look past itself and past what it used to be to what it needs to become. Today, I feel a bit reborn. I am wearing red, white and blue today for the first time in many years. I am so proud and happy to see the American flag. And more than anything, I am proud of my country, for our ability to move ahead, embrace change, and embrace difference as the solution to our bright future.

As a manager of creative teams in many contexts over the past 15 years, part of my success has been driven by my adaptability; that I can find almost any topic delightful, or at least interesting. This was certainly true during my stint at a manjor bank; defeasance calculators aren't something that would normally rev my engine, but given a design problem to solve, I'll figure out a way to make it fascinating.

So over the years, I've kind of fallen out of touch with what I really love and value when it comes to product design. I was asked at a recent Google UX Leadership meeting to present a few products that delight me. Seemed like a simple exercise. But the process of looking through my belongings, both physical and virtual, provided an unexpected opportunity to reflect on some of my personal design values. I'll be sharing these in a series of posts for your consideration. And maybe you can reciprocate with what you find delightful, too.

Hall Closet: Before

Part of what's so satisfying about organizing a closet is that you realize you have a lot more storage room than you thought. Plus, you uncover infrequently used items that have outlived their usefulness. I'm not sure if it's a sign of mild OC, but as I get older, I find I really love clearing through clutter, purging the junk, organizing what's left in ways that make it easier to keep in in order, and then sitting back and admiring my work. My husband said it best after one of my infamous purge and GoodWill drops: "Not only do I not miss anything you got rid of, I can't even remember what you got rid of."

Now if only I could convince my girls to limit themselves to a dozen stuffed animals...each.

Hall Closet: After

This morning, after I held on to the article from Martha Stewart Living for years, I finally sat down and learned how to fold flat bed sheets the right way. That is to say, the Martha Stewart way. I am embarrassed to say that it was deeply satisfying. Tonight, I will geek out and refold my whole linen closet. Try it yourself!

Folding flat sheets, the Martha Stewart way!

...people who give dirty looks to crying babies and their parents on airplanes. I actually heard someone "shush!" an infant today on a plane. And it wasn't one of the parents.

First of all, if you have kids that have grown a bit older (like mine), muster up some empathy for those poor, beleaguered parents, Instead of a scowl, flash them a smile. You remember how bad it can be traveling with an unhappy infant.

Second, if you don't have kids and can't muster up some sympathy from the cup of human kindness, just remember this: you were once a baby, and you probably ruined the trips of others when you your ears popped on the descent, too!

Third, realize that by allowing your frustration and irritation show, you will, in most cases, cause a lot of stress and discomfort for the parents of said baby. That, in turn, makes them unhappy and stressed with their kid. And this, in turn, makes the tot even more unhappy. The cycle is so viscious.

So lighten up, be a little friendly, or worst care scenario, stick your head phones on and drowned out junior. But save your scowls for the adults who can make air travel so miserable: the guy who's drunk on cocktails 45 minutes into a trans-Atlantic flight, the traveler with the pea-sized bladder who insists on a window seat, or the jerks who try to board before their zone is called. That crying baby isn't looking so culpable after all......

....people who overlook a single queue of 20 people efficiently feeding into three registers at a store. They just by pass the line and either think, 'Hey, this is my lucky day!", or "Sucka!"

Among my many pet peeves: stupid spell checkers. I mean, even a half-witted software program should be able to figure out that I intend "throgh" to be "through". I am a lousy speller at best and rely heavily on these tools to keep me from looking like an ass (a major effort, with my typing skills). So please, folks, let's agree that if something is being held up as a spelling authority, it has more than 2nd grade spelling skills.