The Living Room Side Table Project
After having refreshed the Living Room, our mismatched side tables needed to be brought closer to mid-century modern style. By chance, we visited Chicago this past week, and on a whim, my spouse looked up if there were any mid-century furniture stores and indeed there is the biggest one in the nation called Modern Hill. We found exactly what we were looking for, they just needed a little bit of attention.
The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut by Dan Lyons
A former colleague had recommended this book. Saying less has been a problem for me, especially in a situation where I wish for people to like me more. It is a terrible approach. I obliged my friend and let it sit on my wishlist on Amazon. Two days before Christmas, the book was marked for $3, so naturally I purchased it. Though I am not an extreme case like the author seems to be, I did get value out of this book.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
This is Hemingway’s first novel and is a complete hedonistic accounting of post WWI European Ex patriots. This book brings sadness. Hope. Friendship. The only positive out of this book was the friendship, or remanence of a defunct romance, of the lead characters.
Whiskey as Hobby
Whiskey is a silly hobby for me, revolving around alcohol, but there are some delicious whiskeys to discover that are best sipped with friends. That said, the oldest girl in our house is dating a boy whose father is very into whiskey. Based on her comparison of my whiskey collection and his, she came up with the following rating system for residential whiskey obsession.
Level 0 - You do not own any whiskey
Don't Think, Just Do
I never seek flow in getting things done, I always seek detachment from my monkey mind and just execute what is in front of me. That is when I am most productive. I do not worry about the order of what needs to be done or the steps to do it or the time it may take or how I might feel. I just pick up the next task and execute.
Managing Change
I have always been one to enjoy change. Change often means good things can happen. Change often means a new opportunity to grow. Change often means growth comes with pain. We don’t get to choose our change, but we do get to seek out learning from it.
As more change is on the horizon for me, I need to work through my own feelings of change and then help communicate and deliver them to others who often like change less than I do.
Relationships vs Systems
Working in the engineering world, a common theme is to see people wanting to put systems in place when we need to cultivate relationships. It is always a mistake to think about working with other people or teams as requiring an interface and system to replace interacting with others. Long term relationships imply trust and empathy.
RIP Charlie Munger
One of the qualities that make Charlie memorable for me is his blunt wit and not his wealth. Perhaps the wealth lead to the wit, but I’d like to think not. I had Poor Charlie’s Almanac on order for about eight months and it finally arrived about a week after his death.
44 memorable Charlie Munger quotes about life and markets
Running Sucks
Stasis is Not Good Rehab
A few Sundays ago, I ended up with a spasmed muscle in my lower right back. This resulted in an agonizing day. The rest of the week became recovery from the whole right side of my body tensing and being out of alignment from the one problem. I have been diligent about keeping up my flexibility routine and stretching often throughout the day. I had tried running earlier in the week but had to temper it with plenty of walking.