Lazlo is a fictional character from my favorite 80s geek movie, Real Genius. No slight toward Nerds or Honey, I shrunk the kids, or Weird Science but this hopelessly optimistic college student argues that Real Genius best captured the can-do-anything outlook of a self-proclaimed self-starter.

Back to Lazlo – this lovely gentlemen holding a stack of entries to the FritoLay's Sweepstakes is Lazlo Hollyfeld

Enter as many times as you like and Lazlo does, calculating that he WILL win 32.6% of the winnings

Portrayed by John Grier and his full head of hair, Lazlo is the school hermit who turned inward after a close encounter with greed to focus on the the purity of existence; his work. Obsession and seclusion provide him with plenty of development time to build an elaborate entrance into what is effectively, a normal basement.

Past the hidden door and the train car that travels only 5 ft, the genius himself with time-period-correct computers and line printers and mechanical contraptions, all that make a young geek gawk like anybody starring at kinetic art...

Lazlo has a good heart and that's both his super power and his weakness. As a young student, he believes the people are essentially good and doesn't hesitate to share his energy and talent with anyone who surrounds him. When Lazlo isn't in his lair, indulging in his obsessions, he walks the campus at night doing a good deed or two, all unseen to the benefactors.  

He cares just the same as he always did but now he only cares for those he feels deserve it.  

It takes two plucky kids on the brink of his own mistakes to pull him out of his lair and back into society. Poetically, his recent obsession with obtaining material wealth (freedom) coincides with his re-emergence as a leader of altruists. He drives off into the sunset in an RV with companionship and a theoretically incorrect proportion of the winnings from the FritoLay's Sweepstakes. This missed calculation signifies Lazlo's humanity.

He isn't always right and he doesn't need to be to achieve happiness.

A flash of a smile and the latent protagonist emerges just in-time to fade and not become the villain.  

Why Lazlo?

Because Lazlo has integrity. He's Hollywood liberty with the brilliance, the self-punishment that borders on martyrdom and the meteoric rise from the ashes. The seed of his character is play by the rules, do things the right way and you'll eventually be rewarded. No one reveals the heartaches that await or hurdles on path ahead. But the satisfaction isn't any sweeter when there isn't collateral damage that you have to explain to your soul.

• Be patient.
• Be persistent.
• Be humble.

Starting this journey again, looking for a new job, day-life, career path and (my) LinkedIn looks about the same as it did last time this hunt started.

Same with this blog: empty. Each time there is an inflection point to reexamine the way things have been done to try and produce a 2.0 version of me, the old habits persevere and what's left behind is false starts and just enough gas to open the next door and leap.

Sometimes I hope that it takes me a long time to find the next step so that there is a true breakdown of old habits and razed ground upon which fresh construction can begin. Then again, there's a lot lost that works quite well and that would just be repeating the same mistakes of wanting to start fresh over and over. But here we are with some well functioning pieces that are treading water sprinkled in with glimmers of "new me" that follow frustration and feelings of futility. How does it come together? I'm waiting for the perfect storm of clarity of vision, reinforcement from an audience and inspiration to power through the murky periods of change.

Change that means truly reflecting on what inhibits advancing towards the goals we set and change that requires crafty mechanisms that vary the necessary discipline to get there. Ultimately there is one truth that can't and wont change; my true nature to be focused but sometimes distracted, engrossed but sometimes inconsistent and promising but often unrealized. Balance is my theme and finding a way to be a calm eye in middle of the my storms is the challenge.

With that all out in the open, let's get a bit organized – what my goal for this publication?

• Journaling to find balance and perspective through self-reflection
• Share what I've earned and inspire discussion
• Promote myself and my journey
• Become a better writer, find my voice

In the spirit of true product definition, this publication will not be...

• Dishonest or hyperbolic for the sake of entertainment or profit
• Strongly opinionated to affirm personal choices and reject inspection or change
• Revealing personal details that lead to others around me. I prefer no collateral damage.

Let's see how it all works out - the idea list is long but the track record is short. If we make it to a second published post anytime soon, I'll take pause to appreciate the first step.