Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog

Got a bunch of stories pulled, but frankly, none compel me to write.

The heat, the pollution, the allergies, the non-stop travel and 48 with DeAngelis are enough to reduce me to one non-stop headache that teeters on the edge of migraine.

Spent the weekend with my wife, noting her birthday not on the right day, but noting it with enough style that it did not matter.

Then up early Monday for flight to LaGuardia and several hours with Mark Warren at Esquire, talking my short piece for the October issue, the other short piece that did not make the cut because it deserves a bigger treatment (and will get it in a subsequent issue), some help I'll offer Mark on his wonderfully ambitious plans for the November issue, and another piece we contemplate. Steve joined us for a nice Cuban lunch, and we got farther in that discussion (Steve is deep into his proposed book and we need to start shopping it soon).

Then Steve and I drive to DC, work out, eat, collapse.

Today was Steve's usual manic sked, which I joined at a 1130 lunch with fellow panda hugger Banning Garrett (who's already plotting my next round of meets with senior Chinese players for this October--yes, I return that soon!) and stayed with him thru a dinner that ran to 2000. I had planned to fly home tonight, but stay on an extra day, meaning I'll meet the family in Chicago tomorrow for the final festivities that end the week-long celebration that is my wife's b-day (yes, she deserves even more).

Lately it seems like about one-third of my meetings with Steve are companies wanting to engage in joint offerings, anther third are companies that want to buy us, and the last third is recruiting all-stars to do all the work we're winning in new jobs (sort of the 4th third of our meetings, which gives you a sense of the pace we maintain).

The lady we took out tonight is a good example of the top talent we're luring into our Manhattan Project-like fold: a key strategic communicator for a USG agency to industry, she'd relieve Steve and I of some of this insane sked (we just don't pitch a company, but really a whole new industry--speaking not just from our gut but seeking the G-U-T!). This very talented brain would be a huge asset in that effort, so we do our best to pull her into the fold.

I find I really love recruiting. It really pushes my still blossoming Enterra self-identity to the forefront. Simply put, "we" is pretty natural now, and quite frankly, I'm not much of a "we" guy. But I do like the belonging, the sense of being a real adult (your Dad dying does that), and the whole dynamic duo thing with Steve, who is just as demanding a boss as you want (who wants a doofus running a big chunk of your financial future?) and just as nice of a partner as you'd want (and just competitive enough to almost feel like family: to quote Woody, "I love him like a brother, just... not... one of mine!"--"Love and Death" still being his best).

Do we get this lady? I hope so. She's a bit worried about keeping up with our frenetic pace (as do I myself). But truth be told, Steve and I really do feel like we're leading this worldwide revolution as much as building this start-up. I suppose most start-up people feel this way, and why the hell not!

Still, you hit your hotel room (once the great romance of this small-town kid and now something I just can't wait to check out of) and you're braindead and you wonder how and why you try to keep up the blog ...

... And then you have something like the Barone piece end up in your mailbox one morning (about 25 times--thanks to all who sent in this Xmas-in-August-present!) and you say, "That's why."

Ah well, August is--by definition--a slow month. Too bad nobody told the global security environment.

Then again, I don't want to be a commentator on everything. I just want to write when I feel totally compelled.

Tonight I feel totally compelled to soak in a hot tub...