A proliferation of Prii

An anniversary is looming.

October 8 will mark our first year owning (through Capital Synergies) Pretty, a 2009 Toyota Prius.

The name, besides being an obvious play on "Prius," (and preferable to "Priapus"), acknowledges a change of heart and mind. When I first became aware of the Prius, I thought it was the ugliest thing on God's earth. Then, a few years ago, a friend gave me a ride to an event in a 2007 Prius. It was my first time being inside one, and the surprising spaciousness of the interior made me say, "Hey, this isn't so bad!" Then the display of graphics made me say, "Hey, cool!"

And the Prius went on my list of candidates to replace our 1997 Honda Accord, which had been totaled in an accident after passing the 200,000-mile mark. But on at least two occasions, when I found a listing online for a Prius that I thought might be appropriate for us, the darn thing sold before we got a chance to look at it.

Last September, I came across a listing for a 2009 Prius, touring edition - i.e., with all the bells and whistles of the time: Bluetooth (my #1 requirement), garage door opener (we don't have a garage), etc. And the timing was right, and the price was right, and I drove it home, stopping along the way to take this pic:

Come to papa, Pretty!

Since becoming a Prius owner, it now seems that I see cars like mine everywhere. But then, that happens every time we get a car. I have always assumed that that was merely the demonstration of a principle like, "You see what you're looking for." Or at the very least, what you're paying attention to. Something like that.

But the number of Priuses - oops, excuse me, Toyota - the number of Prii that I see in and around Pittsburgh these days makes me wonder if there's something larger going on.

A couple of months ago, my friend +Shimira Williams and I co-presented a program at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Northside branch. Afterward, I offered her a ride home, and between the library and Lincoln-Lemington, we counted at least a half-dozen Prii.

Tonight, my wife and I attended an event in Oakland. On the way there, I saw at least 7.5 Prii (the .5 is because I may have counted one of them twice).

This is normal now, and I have begun to suspect that the proliferation of Prii signifies something about Pittsburgh. This is just a feeling, but the feeling says that as little as five years ago, most Pittsburghers regarded the Prius as a car for people out on the Left Coast. It says that five years ago, I could not have taken this picture at random in an East Liberty parking lot:

A pride of Prii? 

My hypothesis? The growth of Pittsburgh's Prius population is a proxy for the greening of Pittsburgh, not by way of public policy initiatives, or campaigns by fine organizations like GTECH Strategies or Green Building Alliance, but by way of hundreds, then thousands of individuals making individual lifestyle choices. Such as, "My next car will be a hybrid." 

This delights me. What delights me even more is imagining two scenarios. The first is that as more used Prii are released into the market by people buying newer cars, they become affordable enough to show up more often in Homewood and neighborhoods like it, bringing the cost savings of a high-mpg vehicle to the people who need those savings the most.

The second is that Pittsburgh hosts To Go Before, the national convention for Prius owners. Just because I think that would be extremely cool. In fact, I think that would be so cool - and my selfish desire to attend such a convention without having to leave town is just strong enough - that I just might drop those guys a line. 

Building a Billion-Dollar Enterprise, 22: In search of "ne plus infra"

Today (Friday, 6/7) was weird; it seemed to be all distraction.

I woke up late, cancelled a meeting. Went to lunch with Andrew Butcher (of GTECH). Had a hard time focusing this afternoon, until the repeated appearance of a particular video in my Facebook news feed led me to write this blog post about it.

The evening was actually a little scary. I think I'm paying too much attention, or the wrong kind of attention, to pageviews and visits. I'm feeling too much.

As the evening wound later, I kept thinking that I needed to do something Luminaria-related, because I want a chronicle of doing something Luminaria-related every single day (shades of "Julie and Julia"). But my motivation and focus were shot.

"Any little thing," I told myself. "What's the smallest thing you can think of to do?"

Draw a sketch of what I want Luminaria's office to look like? Do some research reading? Compose a musical motto? Email a graphic artist about ideas for new products on which we could collaborate?

Everything seemed like too much. I wanted the ne plus infra of action - the opposite of ne plus ultra, or the thing which nothing could go beyond. I wanted the thing which nothing could go below, the smallest possible action.

Finally, I thought of something that seemed like the smallest possible thing I could do. The thing that I can always do. The thing that may be the biggest thing I can do.

I prayed.

"Lord, please grant me wisdom to build the Luminaria the way You want it to be. Or take away the desire for it."

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Only after beginning this post did I remember that I had promised Greg O. last night (see the comments section) that tonight, I would explain why I am sending out links to these posts via LinkedIn.

Here's why:

1. I have more than 600 1st-degree contacts on LinkedIn. That's more direct contacts than I have on Facebook, Twitter, G+, or any of my email lists.
2. LinkedIn is more business-oriented than the other networks. Over time, I want this chronicle to provide greatest value to people who are most interested in business, as a learning tool.
3. When I am ready to begin hiring people, people who have followed the development of the business may constitute the best hiring pool.
4. When I need to partner with someone, people who have followed the development of the business may make the best potential partners.

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I want to continue reporting daily stats, even as I learn to avoid attaching emotion to then. I've learned that I need to wait a day for complete information. So here are the final numbers from Wed., June 6:

ReVisions pageviews: 55

Homewood Nation visitors: 64, average time 1:34

I am nowhere close to being in a position say whether any of those numbers are good or bad. For me, now, they simply are. And are subject to improvement.

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Today, for the first time, I thought seriously, if only briefly, about creating a nonprofit to publish a neighborhood newsletter. Or more precisely, revamping a nonprofit that I formed years ago but never used. The newsletter and "Homewood Nation" could feed each other material, and the newsletter and its nonprofit could attract funding that for-profit Luminaria could not.

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I did do something else today for Luminaria Productions, come to think of it - if "for" is the appropriate word.

I talked about it. With Andrew. Not at any great length, but enough to make me realize that I need to talk about it more, to hear myself say out loud what is in my mind and in my heart - and sometimes, even, to discover what some of what is in my mind and in my heart by saying it out loud, like "Making Homewood a hub of Pittsburgh's film industry." That goes a bit beyond wanting to make a movie or two.

Maybe I should not only do something for Luminaria every day, and write about Luminaria every day; maybe I should talk about Luminaria every day, too.