These Days

Who hasn't read The Catcher in the Rye? The author, J.D. Salinger died last Wednesday, January 27, 2010.  He was 91.  Here's the complete obit from NYTimes.com .   Photo from NYTimes.com

Ok, I may have misrepresented myself in the last post when I said I hate exercise.  That’s not entirely true.  Back in college, I used to jog around the UP Academic Oval several times a week.  Mornings, evenings, rain or shine.  I was probably at my best shape then.  I think the environment had a lot to do with it.  I just love jogging around UP.  Running on the treadmill is just not the same…. When I started working, badminton was my exercise of choice.  I would play at least twice a week (after work) and for at least 3 hours.  With rest, of course.  I joined dual meets against other companies, inter-department tournaments, and have (ahem) a few medals to show for it.  I love badminton! All of that had to stop when I got pregnant and after I had DS.  After work, the first thing I want to do was go home to the baby.  And so all the exercise had to take a back seat.  DS is 18 months old now and here I am, starting ...

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lenceoni I finished reading this book yesterday.  It’s a management/leadership book specifically on teams, and more specifically on dysfunctions.  It’s an easy read because the concepts are introduced within a story (leadership fable).  DecisionTech is a technology company and although it has better technology and more capital, it ranks third in its market.  Their new CEO, Kathryn, is set on solving the company’s problem by first building a strong executive team, which includes addressing the dysfunctions. The five dysfunctions are: Absence of Trust, Fear of Conflict, Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountability and Inattention to Results.  These were all resolved within the story, but not without major changes and struggles.  In the end, the team was able to gain market share and the executive team became a dynamic and effective organization. This would not have been my natural book choice but it was what was i...

I hit the gym this morning.  I was up at 5:30AM, couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to go.  But before that, I read the Bible and had a little to eat.  All this time I was psyching myself about going.  For the record, I don’t enjoy it very much (at all?)  but I do know it’s important and it will be good for me.  So the adult thing to do is to JUST DO IT! I convinced DH to come with me (misery loves company? :)).  We were there at 7:15AM and stayed for about an hour.  For cardio, I used the elliptical machine and set it for 20 minutes.  A very long 20 minutes.  I was looking at the display counting down the time, while huffing and puffing because I was out of shape.  Then I did some weight exercises on my legs and arms, and also worked my abs On Friday, DH and I have an appointment with the gym guy who will create programs for us.  That will put more structure into my routine and probably help me see results faster....

Since I haven’t updated in quite a while (understatement!), let me greet all of you a (very) belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Since the start of the year, I’ve read 4 books.  Good progress in terms of reading. :)  However, let me qualify that the list includes one which I started last year and another one which I started years ago. Here’s the list: "The Road to Cana" by Anne Rice – This is the second book in Rice’s Christ the Lord series.  This is all about the adult Jesus Christ on the way to fulfilling the prophecies as Messiah.  He was already a carpenter at this time.  The story includes the baptism by John, the temptation in the desert and ends with his first miracle during the wedding in Cana. "What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures" by Malcolm Gladwell – A collection of Gladwell’s writings published in the new York Times.  Interesting topics.  This is the book I started reading late last year.  Because there are different topi...