The second one

They say the sequel is never as good right? Welcome to blog number 2, almost a week after the first one. Now that’s consistent!

I’m writing this on the balcony of our tenth floor room at Hammock Beach Golf and Spa Resort. There’s a fantastic moon in the sky, alas I have only an iPhone and as anyone with a phone camera will attest to, any picture of the moon taken with one never looks as good.

Oh, and the reason for being here at all was to celebrate the wife’s 40th birthday. One of the gifts was a personalised paper letter tray which I completed over a month ago and then squirreled away until now. I wrote a message underneath in a gold marker. The other half is an aspiring writer so I’m hoping it will get some good use. Luckily in this day and age where everything is going digital she still defaults to good old pen and paper. Cute. Not so cute when making grocery lists though. Just use Notes on your phone fercrissakes! hehe, ah well, it is what it is.

There were some books begun and finished in between blogs though. One was Show Your Work by Austin Kleon which was one of the impetuses behind pushing forward with this website and the associated links. This book was short, about an hour I’d say, but the takeaway was getting stuff out there. Don’t let your fears stop you from moving forward, nobody cares. That sounds pretty harsh but from the perspective of exposing yourself and being concerned about being judged I see the point.

The second book I read was Anything You Want by Derek Silvers, another short book, about an hour and a half for me. This one covered Derek’s experience with his CD Baby online store that he set up almost two decades ago. I remember websites back then — compared to nowadays they weren’t much to look at. It was fascinating learning about his journey and how the enterprise started out as a favour and grew from there. I guess sometimes things can work out like that. All throughout he focused on a level of standards that he never let slip, gathering his employees and reiterating these “rules” with them. I really liked that and his methods resonated with me. Maybe there’s a certain level of vindication involved as I have been inadvertently using some of these methods with the four horsewomen of the apocalypse that are my daughters.

And the third book I’ve begun is Getting Things Done by David Allen. So far of what little I’ve read it reminds me of Personal Kanban. I’m looking forward to using some of the tips in here — the idea of open loops, things that you need/want to do that pop into your head which you don’t resolve, subconsciously eating away at your drive and ambition, feels like something I need help with. I have a lot of ideas (not necessarily interesting) just dangling in the wind!

Anyhoo, I’ve rambled on enough and this sangria is starting to get warm — see you next week and stay safe!