Blogged down: my #Posterous blog host of choice is going down April 30 #NerdNewsFlash

Just got wind of this news: basically, my blogging platform of choice at Posterous.com is being discontinued.
So in case posts are even slower than usual here, we can pin partial blame on me frantically migrating the blog to a new home.
Not sure how this'll look yet but it'll likely be housed in my new business venture, ThatGuyWriting.com .
Also of note is my Wordpress.com blog.

Some of the snitty prognosticators were right on this one:
closing shop is what tends to happens when Twitter buys you.

RIP Posterous. I'll miss you. #SniffSniffFacetiously 

#BlueRoseTuesdays - a cute #parable for #Valentines

My thoughts on Valentine’s this year turn to a story called Blue Rose Tuesdays, from the book The End of Religion by Bruxy Cavey. Bruxy’s a pastor just outside Toronto running one of Canada’s largest churches, a multi-site collection of congregations I find to be one of the world’s most intriguing faith communities to boot. Still, I post this because the crux of the story Bruxy tells feels more far-reaching than simply applying it to religion. Although you’ll like see the connection here. I’ve just included the story itself, and enthusiastically encourage you to pick up the book to help justify me whole-hog posting one of the two most memorable things in it.

Bob and Sue Prunebottom were a few years into their marriage when Sue felt the need to challenge Bob on the lack of romance they were experiencing. Gone were the days when he had initiated exciting and unexpected events that brought the two of them together romantically. Now their marriage consisted of a steady diet of predictable rituals and routines that maintain stability but lacked passion. This was, understandably, not enough for Sue. Bob agreed and committed to taking the initiative to help rekindle some of the former romance they had shared together.
 
One Tuesday evening, around six thirty, the doorbell rang: DING DONG. Sue went to the door to find little Maureen Tupperman, their usual babysitter. Sue was surprised since she knew she hadn’t booked Maureen, and she was even more surprised when Maureen explained: “Mr. Prunebottom booked me.” Now this was a first. Bob had called the babysitter all on his own?

Sure enough, Bob came to the door, welcomed in little Maureen, and asked Sue to head upstairs and put on whatever she would enjoy wearing out on the town. Wow. Romance was returning.

Sue came down minutes later in a beautiful red dress and off they drove together. They pulled into the parking lot of a fancy little Italian restaurant. As they walked in the front door, they were cheerfully greeted by the manager. “Your table is all ready, Mr. Prunebottom,” he said with a knowing smile. Then he led the couple to a charming candlelit table for two in the back corner of the restaurant. Waiting for Sue at her place setting was a card with her name on it. She opened it up to see something beautiful. It wasn't the usual Hallmark special with the prefab message and Bob's signature. It was a simple card with no factory message on the inside, but a deeply thoughtful, handwritten note from Bob about his love for - and delight with – Sue.

As the evening progressed, Bob and Sue enjoyed a truly meaningful conversation over candlelight and wine. When the dessert came, Bob reached under the table and pulled out Sue's favorite flower – a single, stunning blue rose. His thoughtfulness down to the last detail was a precious gift to Sue, and she was moved to tears.

That week was one of the most wonderful weeks of their married life. Bob's intentionality, mindfulness, and creative initiative filled Sue with renewed hope for the future. And Bob was feeling like he had become the husband he always wanted to be. “How can I make this last?” Bob wondered.

The next Tuesday night, at exactly six thirty, the doorbell rang: ding, dong. Sure enough, it was young Maureen Tupperman. Sue was again taken aback, especially when she learned that Mr. Prunebottom had made the arrangements again. Two weeks in a row! thought Sue. I could get used to this!

She did think it was a bit odd when Bob encouraged her to put on that same red dress that she wore the previous week, but gladly made herself ready for another night out together. As she pulled into the parking lot of the same little Italian restaurant, Sue thought to herself that Bob might not get full marks for creativity this time, but a night out was a night out, and she would be happy with their evening together. She was again touched to find a card waiting for her at the same table at the back of the restaurant. But her delight turned to disappointment when she saw that Bob had written almost exactly the same words on the inside. Now the evening was beginning to feel not romantic but just plain weird. Refusing to draw attention to Bob's lack of creativity, Sue determined to enjoy the night. Bob ordered them the exact same meal as the week previous, And as the evening moved forward Sue became aware of how he manipulated their conversation to cover basically the same relational territory as the week before. Now Sue could almost hear the Twilight Zone theme playing in the back of her mind. Whenever she tried to take their conversation in a new direction, Bob seems to find a way to bring it back to the same issues, the same questions, even the same jokes that passed between them the former Tuesday. For Sue, the evening went from feeling weird to feeling suffocating. A part of her wanted out, yet another part wanted her to give Bob every benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the joke would soon end. It came as no surprise that when dessert arrived on the reached under the table and pulled out – you guessed it – a single blue rose. Sue received with polite gratitude, but the tears that welled up in her eyes this night were for a different reason.

Bob and Sue enjoyed a cordial but mildly distant relationship that week, until the following Tuesday evening, at six thirty, when Sue heard: ding, dong. Once again, Bob manipulated suit through a scripted evening of supposedly romance. Very little was different from the previous two Tuesdays. Now Sue was plainly discouraged. Sure enough, the following Tuesday at six thirty: ding, dong. And that week later:  ding, dong. And so on, and so forth, Tuesday after Tuesday, blue rose after blue rose.

And today, if you were to ask Bob how his marriage is doing, he would probably smile with a sense of accomplishment and say, “I romance my wife religiously.” He might even boast about finding the secret to a successful relationship and encourage you to follow his system for a healthy marriage.

If you were to ask Sue how things were going, you know you would get a different take on things. Most likely, she would burst into tears and then tell you she feels trapped, imprisoned in a loveless relationship by someone who means well, but who doesn't have a sweet clue what relationship is all about.

 

note: I grabbed the bulk of this text from this page here where you'd also see the stuff I clipped out, if you're curious.

Wishing you a wonderful Valentine's Day!

a whole nother brand new. Again. #ThatGuyWritingBrandConsultancy

This year I'm launching a new business, ThatGuyWriting Brand Consultancy.
I could tell you more but then I'd have to kill you I'll leave it as simple as this for the time being.

For those looking for the family-style updates I plunk on this site:

Christmastime was deliciously unbalanced for us, just like this bit of decoration our 2-year-old did with 5 of 8 of these Christmas balls on our tree. Thanks for everyone who contributed (if you're reading this and caring, then yes, you contributed).

Some of you mayn't know: our second is due this March. Happy New Year indeed.

 

Coming 2013 posts include a 3-parter on What'sThe Draw?

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If it's the last thing I do?... a singular post for December 2012

~ This is the only post I've slated here for the rest of 2012. ~

One post? Seriously?
Expert opinion suggests updating blogs every day or every 5 days or every week or something. I'm challenging that notion this year: there’s no way any human being needs to feel the need to “publish” something that regularly. Especially during this big holiday month where there'll be no shortage of messages coming at you.
So THIS is the only post I'm planning for the balance of the year.
It's a break.
I hope it's a welcome one.
Because the other thing I read about blogs is to challenge established notions.
Which also jives with Seth Godin's occasional recommend for us to break the system.

~ in case of boredom, break habits ~
You might be here because you followed one of my rabbit-trail posts here and were intrigued. If you're looking for something interesting to look at, some new info to take in... my first notion is "Why?". Perhaps a telling little internal exploration. Speaking of telling little internal explorations, my other thought is: if you're looking for something intriguing/thought-provoking/compelling, it might already be in you.
Consider sitting yourself down with a blank page (or Word doc) and see what you've got in you.
I'm pretty sure it'd be pretty good.
Alternately, you can also feel free to re-visit my posts from the season last year when, ironically, I felt compelled to do the opposite tack and post right on Christmas Day.

~ hey man, let's just chill ~
In the middle of everything that's going on, I'd love for you to just chill.
This is my blanket wish for everyone I love:
to have opportunity to opt a little less into social media, and conversely, a little more into actual in-person socializing. Surround yourself with family and friends. Just be. Relax. Be yourself.

~ my ironic "game" this month ~
I'm also taking as much a break from constant social media checking as I can muster.
Ironically, my social media call-outs are set to go. But they're all pointing here.
Is that a weird part of my game? Does it bug you? Drop me a line and let me know.
Speaking of the game, there'll likely be some big changes to how I post/blog in the New Year. Part of the reason I'm taking this #blogbatical is to re-focus and redefine my communications channels. So please remember me & this space circa Jan 3, 2013!...

~ credit where credit is due ~
The cover image is the first-ever illustrated commission on this blog, courtesy LaJolee, a new local source for Illustration, Design and Illustratorly Merch. Check out the site, there's more fun stuff where this came from. I was super-glad to have collaborated on it.

the end of a #Mo era.

My pretty-close-to-full moustache Mo-Mo, fruit of my month-long #Movember efforts, was posted yesterday on my Movember page.
Thanks to everyone for your support: monetary, in spirit, and otherwise.

Hats off to my brother Hin for:

• setting up our Mo Tang Clan team & prodding me to get involved
• likely topping our team's donations race
• growing a pretty good #HulkHogan for Movember this year
• not only not quitting when we had our grandma's memorial on Nov 22, but working his Mo tactfully into his speech (he impressed our Mom. And that's tough)

I'd post an After but it should be pretty close to that Day 1 picture on my Mo page.
(for you last-minute-ers, there's still a day to give to the cause!).

#Movember Week 3 and quickie fr the only health book I've ever read #DavidAgus #TheEndOfIllness

This is the only health book I've ever read cover-to-cover.
It seemed different.
It also seemed about time I'd done some reading on these lines, now that I'm a Dad.
I grabbed it at my local library so I'm suspecting it's at one near you too.

Seemed appropriate to mention and sort of plug in the middle of my Movember campaign.

The author, Dr David Agus, is a cancer doctor.
I could summarize more but his website has a really nice sell-job. 
Here's page 194, one of the "Health Rule" tip-sheets he ends every chapter with:

Elements of Healthy Style

Health Rule
Eat well. Get your nutrition -including naturally occurring vitamins and minerals - from real, whole food that is as close to nature as possible. Don't trust anything that comes out of a blender, juicer, or glass jar. Buy frozen fruits and vegetables or "fresh flash-frozen" over what many supermarkets sell as just fresh. It's hard to summarize nutritional recommendations in a list, but below is a list of general recommendations. Understanding the complex nature of nutrition is a more important principle, but lists can be helpful tools:
1. Moderation.
2. Eat on a regular schedule - it doesn't matter how many meals, just regular timing. No snacking. (You'll learn the importance of maintaining such strict regularity shortly.)
3. Eat cold-water fish a minimum of three times per week (e.g., salmon, sardines, tuna, rainbow trout, anchovies, herring, halibut, cod, black cod, mahimahi, etc.).
Exception: It's better to avoid fish than to consume any fish that is not recommended by SeafoodWatch.org, which keeps a running record of safe, ocean-friendly seafood.
4. Choose a multicolo(u)red diet.
5. Drink red wine (one glass a night) five nights per week - unless you're at high risk for breast cancer.
6. Eat a good-fat diet - not a low-fat diet.
7. Read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food - it's the best book on food. 

Kipling's words to inspire a million Mo's #MovemberCanada

via ca.movember.com

Here's a 3min Movember video set to Rudyard Kipling's "If".
Also a subtle-ish reminder that my Mo-gress is posted on my official Movember page.

3 Ways to Make This A Day To #Remember. #RemembranceDay2012

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and other Commonwealth countries.
The express purpose of the Day is to remember that at the 11:00th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, World War I hostilities officially ended with a signed treaty. It's often marked by observing a minute of silence at 11:00am every year on November 11.

Remembering war sacrifice is important.
In addition, remembering itself is important, and can apply more broadly.
Especially since Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday this year, it seems appropriate to consider other remembrances that have shaped, or can shape, who we are. 

1. Especially now that I'm a dad, I quite often think back and remember that my parents made a ton of sacrifices to give us a chance at success. My Mom actually got a little choked up thinking she may have failed me in some way in her mothering and I assured her that she didn't. Our family was wrapped up in the turmoil of China post-WWII. It's complicated, yet still has common earmarks of many in our boat: uprooting a young family from Asia to Canada (we landed in Toronto in winter. I was 3 months old. That feat alone is herculean to me). Mom and Dad spent their lives working and saving so we could have every opportunity possible. This strikes me as a good thing to remember.
2. Even more simply: think back to when you said "I should remember this" or "I don't want to forget this." You can hold me accountable to this: assuming my wife doesn't see my blog beforehand, I plan to spring the question on her with roughly this scripting:
   "Hey, do you remember the last few times one of us said, 'hey, we should remember this'?Because it's Remembrance Day today and even though we're supposed to remember war sacrifices, I think it would be nice for us to remember those little things too."
   I actually kind of need this because I vaguely remember my wife saying "we should remember this" and actually can't remember what it was we were supposed to remember. We've been quite short on sleep for the last two years and I think our memory might be affected. And also our memory (yes, that's a joke). 
3. There are some things coming up that I want to remember. I'm currently reviewing a book called Stop With The BS. In it, author Shane Mac references a Tim Ferriss (the Four-Hour Work Week guy) principle:  “It is not our ability to take notes, it is our ability to find them later.” A dead simple idea but so true (in the book and probably on Tim's blog, there's a simple enough remedy). So if I get to it, I plan to have a more indexed system of referring back to notes I've jotted down. Having Evernote on my phone & computer helps. Theoretically. Anyway, point also is to pre-populate some big milestones ahead, which also draws together success-related practices like visualizing and goal-setting.

So there it is: three ways to remember today.
Feel free to comment in and check up on my homework, and add your own thoughts or reactions. Wishing you a memorable day.

the #Movember plan for "#worldDomination" 1min vid

In case you thought Movember was just an excuse for us guys to not shave our upper lips, here's a nice little YouTube post about where some of the funding is going, namely to fund increased worldwide collaboration among Prostate Cancer researchers to combat the #1 cancer affecting men.

I'd say, though, it is nice to have an excuse to halve my shaving time...

My Mo's progress through week 1 is posted on my Mo page if, for some reason, you want to see my moustache grow or, more to the point, you want to give to the cause.

my early pick to win #TheVoice is...

I like NBC's The Voice.
It's one of these shows that part of me feels embarassed to like (possibly a topic for another post).

The show's #UniqueSellingProposition: celebrity judges have their backs turned to the singing contestants. They pick them for their team (almost) solely on their voice (the almost: they also see the crowd's reaction). A few other things that, in my mind, set this show apart, though:
1. Initial quality. Contestants WIN a spot in front of judges. They've already gone through an intense selection process to get there. There's no interest in showing deluded singers and being mean to them, which is such a relief. As a result, the initial blind auditions send home some singers who are still fantastic & talented.
2. Note the phrasing: "their" team. The judges pick the team they coach and thus co-own success. Maroon 5's Adam Levine and country star Blake Shelton coached the first two seasons' winners respectively and are not shy about saying it.
There's probably some HR/Leadership principles at play here. Just sayin'.

So my early pick to win is Trevin Hunte.
Apparently I'm not alone in early-picking him.
It's not so much a professional odds-on prediction as much as a wish: he seems like a really authentic 18-year-old who's got so much talent, he doesn't seem to totally grasp it yet. A big part of his story is a major rejection from an earlier music teacher who didn't believe he could "make it". So he's so genuinely appreciative of every chance he's getting. It was quite touching and telling too: this big 18-year-old kid cried when he won his last televised battle, eliminating a team-member who'd taken him under his wing.

Some aspects of Trevin's story remind me of me at a similar age. I don't put it out there a lot but I had a meagre start in choir singing. I enjoyed being in the background and was okay with not getting solos, but one conductor saw something in me, trained me & put me up there (I shared the stage once with a guy who was semi-pro at the time and became a stellar classically-trained soloist).
I think back fondly to being picked in this way.
I also find it odd that that set of memories didn't really surface while watching any of last season, and really only came back to me while considering Trevin's case.

Wanted to slip this in a little bit before they start the Live Finales tonight.

Someone will win this thing. Someone amazing.
I'm really pulling for Trevin Hunte. Go Trevin! 

The-kind-of-odd-tangent-my-brain-does: I wondered why I wanted to spell Trevin's name with a Y in it and it's because his first name is close to Trayvon Martin's: a sad note in 2012 American events. It'd seem a sort of cosmic redemption for Trevin to win this thing for that reason too.

My wife's early pick is 35-year-old Scottish rocker Terry McDermott.
I think he's a good emotional pick too.

 

Remember remember the 1st of #Movember.

Day 1 of Movember.
I have to tell you I'm joining this movement this year.
I have to tell you because if I don't, you likely won't know I'm trying to grow a moustache until maybe November 26.

Movember is men growing their moustaches throughout November to raise funds and awareness for Men's Health issues. They stem around Prostate Cancer but it's kind of also about us men getting over the barriers to getting checked out by a doctor, because there's a lot of health doo-doo we could prevent if we get checked out early. 

I've never done it before, but this year I'm joining forces with my brother in Toronto, forming the Mo Tang Clan alliance to grow our facial hair(s) for the cause. So far I have my daughter's pic as my Mo pictorial presence. I doubt I can beat the appeal of her fruity Mo.

I'm toying with "thon"-ing the concept: having people pledge an amount for every time someone comments on the 'stache. It's part of the objective of the month, plus I'm curious if anyone would ask. Again, might not be an issue for me till after the 26th...

Anyway, here's my Mo page.
And here's the Mo Tang Clan team page. 

Please give early and often. Thanks for your support!

Dexter: a darkly dreaming post for #Halloween

via youtube.com

I had fond memories of Dexter's Laboratory and was more than pleased to share this cartoon gem with my 21-month-old daughter on the tube. Imagine our surprise when we clicked on the show Dexter and...
...I'm totally just kidding. I can tell the difference (could you imagine, though? I wonder if the show's creators had banked on that kind of snafu...).

I started watching Dexter this fall.
I watched the first 3 episodes of Season 1, then read the plot synopses through Season 6, then watched the Season 7 premier. It was a neat way to go. I was so very glad to see the title sequence had remained the tight-focused innuendo-laden visual (the video posted above) since the beginning. Also, Season 7 ended with the biggest of big reveals (I'll not spoil it if you've yet to catch it...).

In a small nutshell: Dexter is a blood splatter expert for the Miami Police Dep't. He's also a closet serial killer, using his "gift" to moonlight as a killer of other killers. 

Dexter's very much an ordinary guy, just with a talent and unusual affinity for homicide. Not that it makes it hugely forgiveable, but he's become very neat and efficient at it. And therein lies the crux of a fascinating premise: the primal urge for eye-for-eye justice is expressed in fighting darkness with equal and opposite darkness. In the show, it occasionally works out neatly but very often, in individual cases as well as in the overarching story, Dexter's private and public lives are an unbelievable mess to manage, with heart-wrenching collateral damage.

Dexter is based on a short story called Darkly Dreaming Dexter and those words resonate with the spirit of what it is, and with the spirit of today: we all have a dark side which is a bit more allowed to peer through on Hallowe'en.
Sometimes the release is healthy.
When it's out and/or acted upon too much, though, things can get real complicated.

Is this a bagful of candy for #nerds? a post on the primo #HalloweenTreat

Is this the Hallowe'en treat for adults? I got the image here.

There's a lot of scary going on right now.
And I'd planned to blog scary for Hallowe'en.

After some thought, though, I re-discovered a core truth about Hallowe'en that was just a little off the scary obvious: to the target market, kids, Halloween is, in many ways aboutcandy.

Gobs of candy.

Candy by the handful.
Candy by the bagful.
At no other time of year are handfuls and bagfuls the measure of candy. 

I'm not sure if my Hallowe'en experience was typical or not. We not only went for volume, but quality: we pinpointed the primo treats (for us, there were cans of pop, full-size candy bars, and chips) and devised ways to repeat-visit them.

This got me thinking about what a treat would be in marketing.
One adult equivalent is tradeshow swag.

And in that realm, the Lancope light-up ninja sword really stuck with me as a primo treat. To me, Lancope really understood their target (tech nerds at a computer security conference) and treated them to branded merch that tapped into a core essence of both the security product AND the aspiring ninja inside any self-respecting nerd. Kudos to Lancope for suitably equipping their prospective customers (quite possibly for Hallowe'en).

According to my research, witty T-Shirts are a close runner-up for primo nerd swag.

Note: I use the term "nerd" with affection. I love nerds and consider myself one. If I were at this show, I'd either have grabbed one of these swords or been really disappointed when they ran out.

I'll have the scary post go up deeper into Hallowe'en.
Stay safe. Have fun. And please enjoy your gobs of candy responsibly.

something scary at the bottom of the stairs...

See the full gallery on Posterous

At the fairly well-known educational institute I'm currently attending, the above is what greets you when you try to walk out from the main floor in Stairwell 1.

The doors on every floor toggle (arbitrarily?) between a Keep Closed warning and an Alarm Will Sound warning. While I'm about 60% sure that even the Alarm Will Sound ones won't actually sound an alarm when you open it, I'm not about to test this theory out and risk an inadvertant school bell fiasco in the middle of downtown Vancouver. This one looks like it's going to ring about 5 alarms, doesn't it?! Then again, maybe I'm just too easily scared.

Showing this as photo evidence of something that could be made much easier, to encourage the healthiness of walking instead of using the elevator. For me, it was a two-day affair figuring out how to walk the stairs to my regular classroom, and even then I have to change stairwells part way.

I'm almost annoyed enough to send it to Seth Godin's ThisIsBroken.com but the site's pretty old and this doesn't seem quite broken enough. Partly posting her because my mini-experiment kind of works: if you toggle between pictures 1 and 2, you get some approximation of the flashing light scenario down there.

(actually) writing good writing #writingTip @ErnieSchenck2

An old Communication Arts column by Creative Director Ernie Schenck recommended kickstarting creativity and the rhythms of writing by actually re-writing good writing by hand. I haven't taken the time to do this as much as I'd like, and I'm not sure it's improved my writing yet. Still, this was a nice piece I picked up while my hard drive was defragging (IT guys, is that actually a thing?...).

If nothing else, it provides a uniquely intimate look at writing you admire.
(by the way this is Herman, one of my favo[u]rite cartoons of all time)

(creative @dobronski waxes poetic on) Brevity http://t.co/8YiK8FNq

CD Doug Brown's one-sentence post about brevity: http://t.co/8YiK8FNq
I've now exceeded his length by one sentence (edited out a picture though) but I'll leave it at that bc we could likely all use a bit of a breather heading into the weekend...

My birthday: an occasion for all to give thanks

My birthday's a national holiday.

At least it is this year.

And the year I was born.

My birthday's a Monday this year and when that happens, it's Thanksgiving Monday in Canada.

I'm not sure if this happy coincidence has magically made me more thankful.
What I feel in my current season, which is far from problem-free, is still an almost inexplicable appreciation and love for life. 

In general, I'd think most of us like appreciativeness in people.
Genuine gratitude seems to imbue life and positive energy.

A common Thanksgiving question is "What are you thankful for?".

While is a nice question to consider, I propose two variations on the question to refine our Thanksgiving, based on how my own gratitude is shifting:

1

I'll call this thanks of omission: wherever we're at in life, there are infinite circumstances that could be worse for us. I think particularly of the space we're in right now: I have time, energy and resources to write a blog post; you have time, energy and resources to read it. Our ability to make this little mental transaction instead of, say, spending our days fighting for our lives, is a privilege only a small percentage of the world population gets (a similar thought in this post: How to Rule the Whole Freaking World.by Sonia Simone).

Two other odd examples for me personally:
a. I've never had an injury involving broken bones or losing teeth.
b. I've never had to deal with broken windows in my car. Even after having one totalled several years back. And after living and parking in high auto theft areas in Canada.
So... what's an omission in your life that you're thankful for?

2
Particularly over the last few years, when I think about being thankful, my thoughts gravitate more to people than to things (with lots of room still to grow in this area). However, this thankfulness comes into strangely sharper focus after you've helped bring a person into the world: our 20-month-old daughter isn't perfect, but lately she's had moments where she's a living breathing cartoon character out of Disney's Steamboat Willy.
On one level, she does nothing for me.
On a deeper level, she's probably more a saving grace for me than I may ever realize.

I'm thankful for my wife who's helped her be this way, and believes in me even in my less-than-perfect present situation. Lovingly taking care of the combined birthday/Thanksgiving baking while I sit at my laptop is something I'm also immensely grateful for.

I'm thankful for family & friends who've embraced and not judged.
They've helped me enjoy the many omissions from point 1.

So... who are you thankful for? (technically it's whom but that looks a touch too hifallutin...).

Wish you all a great Thanksgiving!

title image: Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell

Books you can borrow...

I'm giving away comic books.
It's something I've never done in my life which is testament to the kind of pack rat I am. We could use the space though. Dana will be pleased I think.

If you'd like to borrow these, I'm donating them to my local library (Richmond Brighouse location) so if all goes well, you'll be able to sign them out there in the very near future. I'm posting the photo largely for my own reference: my memory is so shot sometimes these days, I'm quite sure I'll be looking for one of these on our shelf pretty soon and wondering why I'm not finding it.

Using your Jealousy. from Quiet: thepowerofintroverts.com - By Susan Cain

via thepowerofintroverts.com

Susan Cain wrote an excellent book on Introverts this year. It's really stuck with me.

She writes with vivid candour about her own struggles with introversion, this book being the fruit of this struggle and some resolution.

The following quote is from her chapter on life direction.

Seems appropriate as we enter another post-LabourDay season. Enjoy!

...pay attention to what you envy. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but it tells the truth. You mostly envy those who have what you desire. I met my own envy after some of my former law school classmates got together and compared notes on alumni career tracks. They spoke with admiration and, yes, jealousy, of a classmate who argued regularly before the Supreme Court. At first I felt critical. More power to that classmate! I thought, congratulating myself on my magnanimity. Then I realized that my largesse came cheap, because I didn't aspire to argue a case before the Supreme Court, or to any of the other accolades of lawyering. When I asked myself whom I did envy, the answer came back instantly. My college classmates who'd grown up to be writers or psychologists. Today I'm pursuing my own version of both those roles.

from Quiet by Susan Cain (pp975-6 of the digital/iPhone edition) 

posterousfolio: longer copy / techie writing

elite.pdf Download this file

assist.pdf Download this file

overview_2.pdf Download this file

Longer form and more technical writing for what's now SAP.