Earlier today on Twitter I asked my followers how they liked to brainstorm. In the attached screenshot, (not sure yet, with Posterous, whether it's above or below; update: it's above!), you can see the responses.

Note that three of the four suggestions called for hashing out ideas by hand. That's the approach I took as well as I worked through some concepts for my presentation for tomorrow morning at Social Media Breakfast San Antonio. My formula this time: a pad of paper, a pen, and a cool beverage for a little extra kick.

Part of my brainstorm included this sketch on the evolution of our conversational relationships:

Clearly, I'm no David Armano when it comes to visual artistry, but this drawing did help me to think through the key points I'll be arguing tomorrow.

Headed out shortly to tweetup with a 100 of my closest friends. Just hope there's AC there :)

Hoping to find a guest interviewee for today's episode of The Daily Boo, too.

Still trying to sort out the best way to source and link to Flickr photos from within a Posterous post (no trouble with attaching them to the end).

So this is a test using a photo of Amani and me from the weekend.

Update: Image posted fine by just dropping in the .jpg URL in the first line of the post. To create the link to the original Flickr photo, however, I've had to edit this post through the Posterous web-based editor.

<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1330/545180997_2cd5d84001_m.jpg" alt="ankle on ice">

Sometimes a little too much enthusiasm can get you into trouble.

Such was the case after my 6-mile walk and run last Friday morning. Turns out that powering up from 0 to 6 in one go and turning that last mile into a partial jog as an exclamation point for my efforts was not very wise. I overdid it -- and now I'm paying the price.

Some 12 hours after my "extra" exercise and while running after Amani at a church outing, pain started shooting out of my left foot. I've been hobbling around ever since.

Next time out--and that's at least a couple of days away at this point--I'll go a easier on my aging body. Building up my endurance gradually is probably a better approach than trying to become an ironman overnight.

Flickr photo: Liesel Elliott

In case you're wondering ... no, that's not my ankle on ice. I was going for dramatic effect.

Twit Truth reveals, as Marshall writes, the "cold, hard facts" about Twitter users, including how well they respond to @ and direct messages and the percentage of their public posts that link out or reference other users.

Marshall, for example, responds to just one in 9.37 direct messages, while Chris Brogan incporates a link into his posts 11.5% of the time.

Earth-shattering statistics? Certainly not. Insightful? Potentially--if we dare assume their accuracy. 

As for my assessment?  The screenshots below have the details, but I'm happy to report that Twit Truth characterizes me as an "engager."

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Click here to download:

TwitTruth_says_Im_an_engager_t.zip (266 KB)

I'm excited about this weekend's Wimbledon finals, and I hope to watch most of the action from my living room.

Last year at this time, we were in Montreal on a short family vacation.

We watched some of the Venus-Serena final on Saturday morning during breakfast at the hotel.

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(Random memory I: During the meal, Amani grabbed a book from the dining room and proudly identified the letter "O" on the cover.)

(Random memory II: In 2002, the first time Venus and Serena met for the Wimbledon title--tomorrow will be their fourth such showdown--I had just returned to Australia after three weeks in Dili, East Timor on a class project with QUT. The match was on television as our group dined at a restaurant in Darwin.)
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And that epic 5-set marathon championship on Sunday last July between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the match that some have called The Greatest Ever? Well, we saw bits and pieces of the first couple of sets, but were driving back to Boston for most of the dramatics, including the heart-stopping final set.

I'm looking forward to Breakfast at Wimbledon this weekend. I'm calling for a Serena victory on Saturday and a Federer title (no surprise) over American challenger Andy Roddick on Sunday.

I've been far too inconsistent with my walks around the neighborhood since moving to Austin. The Plan has me getting out for some exercise at least once per day; I've just been ignoring said plan.

But this morning, perhaps emboldened from some 20-30 minutes of lap swim at the neighborhood pool last night, I set out on a longer-than-usual jaunt. I covered 6 miles over 105 minutes or so, stopping only briefly to snap a few photos (see below) by the entrance to the Deer Creek Ranch subdivision. Over the last mile, I even alternated between walking and jogging!

Last picture in this set is of me as I arrived home.

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Click here to download:

An_ambitious_morning_walk.zip (594 KB)

Jeremiah Owyang expects more brands to aggregate conversations from the social web on their corporate websites. But is aggregation in and of itself even helpful?

In today's episode of The Daily Boo, I argue that brands will also need a community manager to curate the aggregated content and provide context for website visitors.

Running time: 4:34

I was away from home for most of Father's Day (Sunday, June 21), wrapping up the Podcasters Across Borders conference in Kingston, Canada and then traveling back to Austin (a two-hour-plus drive to Syracuse and then two flights) throughout the afternoon and evening. Didn't get in the door until 11:30pm.

Stella had promised me that something would be waiting for me on her laptop when I made it home--and it was this video.

Very touching.