Everyone has morning rituals. Some people get up, stretch, have a cup of coffee, hop in the shower, brush their teeth, let the dogs out, etc. The first thing I do in the morning is check Woot.com.

My friend and former Quicken Loans team member Jarrett “Spiderman” Knyal introduced me to Woot about four years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. Maybe it’s an uber-geek personality that drives people like Jarrett and me to get so excited about a cult-like “deal-a-day” website or maybe it’s an online shopping addiction - who knows. Call it what you want, but you really can’t have too many Roombas (those nifty robotic vacuums that clean your floors, Jetsons-style).

Since my first Woot purchase (a Roomba, of course), I’ve amassed nearly 50 Woots (that’s what us in the “in crowd” call the daily Woot products), ranging from over a dozen t-shirts, countless screaming monkeys, a “bag of crap” (the most coveted of all Woot deals), two Dyson vacuum cleaners, a color laser printer, the greatest oven mitts I’ve ever owned, and of course, a marshmallow gun. There’s a special feeling when you arrive home from a long day at the office to discover a Woot box on your porch. It’s like one more little slice of happiness to round out the day.

I came across this image yesterday and thought it was a great example of "be careful what you wish for". Pay close attention to the Audi billboard at the left of the photo, and the several-story-high response BMW erected afterward. Audi's got game, but BMW's the Grandmaster in this head-to-head match-up.

Check out this new music video about Detroit featuring Michigan native Brian Vander Ark (lead singer of Verve Pipe). The video is the cornerstone of a new promotional campaign developed by the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, and pays tribute to the perseverance of southeast Michigan during these tough economic times. The video is very well done and does a great job of capturing the spirit of Detroit and its people.

"The concept came directly from the hundreds of people we spoke to across metro Detroit while developing this campaign," said Dave Hunke, CEO of Detroit Media Partnership and publisher of the Detroit Free Press. "It is time to show the world the spirit of Detroit. We will persevere and come together to make this region great again."

Tonight marks the 50th anniversary of the evening that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were all killed in a tragic plane crash over Iowa. Shortly after 1 a.m. on February 3, 1959 the three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza plane they were traveling in crashed about five miles northwest of the Mason City Municipal Airport near Clear Lake, Iowa. The pilot was killed along with Holly, 22; Valens, 17; and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, 28.

The tragedy has been emblazoned in music history in Don McLean’s “American Pie” in the verse, “the day the music died.” We have no way to know how rock and roll would have continued to be shaped by the trio had they survived—but we can be certain music was changed forever by their loss. For 50 years, the crash has marked the end of an era—the roots of innovation and anarchy in American rock and roll.

Holly, Valens and Richardson’s last show was the Winter Dance Party, a tour that had started in Milwaukee, and was set to travel to small towns in Minnesota and Iowa. The promoter decided to continue with the show, despite the deaths. The trio was replaced by local bands, which incidentally led to stardom for other acts. Bobby Vee, one of the replacement acts was an unknown musician from Fargo. At the time, he was only 15-years-old, but went on to create hits like 1961’s “Take Good Care of My Baby” and 1967’s “Come Back When You Grow Up.”

The deaths of the musicians was not a major national news story at the time. News of their deaths was buried in papers—the New York Times placed the story on page 66. Rock and roll was not well-respected at the time. It was a threat to the status quo, and the musicians were virtual unknowns to the older generation. Even in Holly’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas, it’s said the people were embarrassed by him.

First, let me preface this post. It deals with two tightly intertwined concepts: Cause and effect, or in this case, effect, then cause.

On this Thanksgiving night, we are reading headlines about the second consecutive evening of terrorist attacks in Mumbai; over 125 are already dead, with hundreds of others wounded. Over ten million people in our own country are jobless, and at least 3.5 million more are homeless. We've undoubtedly entered a recession; banks and large corporations are plunging like dominoes, and global economies are in peril. Things are largely expected to become worse before they get better. This Thanksgiving, it may seem there is little to be thankful for.

This is where the "effect" part comes in. Even in our darkest, most dismal hours, we are able to see light and find hope—if we're willing to look hard enough. No, I'm not talking about that bright spot you may have in your day tomorrow if you're so fortunate (and daring) to score a 50-inch-television for $700 at the Super Jumbo Mart (that's determination and a bit of naivety—that same TV will probably crop up for $650 the weekend before Christmas, so hold your horses for now). I'm talking about that peculiar little seed inside each of us that gives us the ability to find something positive in every person, in every day, no matter how dark the clouds hovering above. Even during our darkest moments, there is some light to be found, it's just ours for the finding. Maybe it's as simple as a glimmer of sunshine peeking through the clouds on a winter morning—maybe it's even less obvious than that, but it's there…keep looking.

Bringing ourselves to overcome the negative (and there seems to be a lot of it these days) is not a solo mission. The strongest, most influential people have values instilled in them by strong and influential parents, teachers and mentors—good leaders make other people into good leaders. This is where that "cause" part of this post comes in. Just short of two weeks ago, my good friend Clayton (THE DIFF M.C.) lost his father, Bob, to cancer. Prior to his passing, I had only met and spoke with Bob once. I was always pretty sure Clayton was the most passionate human being I would ever meet in my life—that was until I met Clayton's dad. Our first and only encounter was following a performance of "Smokey Joe's Café" by The Park Players in Detroit (Bob was a 30+ year veteran of community theatre).