Goal #3: Reading More Broadly

I am a bit behind on updating my latest reads toward my two book challenges: Where Are You Reading? and Support Your Local Library.  Whew -- just added six more books:

HBR on Return, Reenergize & Reinvent

I'm writing this blog post in January, to post in March, just as my students leave for Spring Break.  Why? Because about that time we'll be closing in on then of Q1 for 2011, so I'll need reevaluate my progress on my 2011 goals and also determine if how to keep myself going until the end of the semester (for my students) and through the next quarter of my own classes.  So thanks Harvard Business Review blogs, for giving me inspiration throughout the year, even when I actually plan two months in advance to tap into it :-)

Goal #3: Reading More Broadly

I picked up Craig Robinson's A Game of Character as a lighter, uplifting read. I like these kinds of lighter reads for my ebook picks as it is easier to pick up with interruptions, are wont to happen during my daily commute. I used the Chicago Public Library's ebook system to download it onto my iPad, which has it count for the Support Your Local Library Challenge.  As the parts I enjoyed the best (though were largely glossed over), were his Princeton years, I also added this to cover New Jersey for the Where Are You Reading Challenge.

Goal #3: Reading More Broadly

Goal #3 of Reading More Broadly --  I've finished Wes Moore's The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. This one actually counts toward my goal in the Where Are You Reading Challenge? (as their stories largely intersect in Maryland, that is where I'll pin this one) for my Where Are You Reading Challenge? plus my Support Your Public Library Challenge.The writing was a bit simplistic, and some of the story rushed (likely due to not being able to fully develop or mine all the information), but I enjoyed it as a quick read that underscores the uphill battle, and various broken systems, that exist in climbing out of poverty.

Goal #3: Reading More Broadly

Goal #3 of Reading More Broadly --  I've finished Andrew O'Hagan's Be Near Me. It only counts as a bonus  (as it is largely set in England & Scotland -- I'll add this pin to Scotland) for my Where Are You Reading Challenge? but it still counts fully toward the Support Your Public Library Challenge. If you want to contemplate solitude, and the ways we respond when we are lonely, disenchanted, or adrift, you'll enjoy this book. My flavor of Catholicism is different, so some of those pieces dragged for me.

Goal #3: Reading More Broadly

Goal #3 of Reading More Broadly -- yesterday I finished Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It only counts as a bonus for my Where Are You Reading Challenge? but it still counts fully toward the Support Your Public Library Challenge. It was an interesting read, and I've placed The Girl Who Played with Fire on hold as an eBook through Chicago Public Library.

Goal #3: Support Your Local Library Challenge Update

Earlier today, I updated my Goal #3: Support Your Local Library Challenge with Tami Hoag's Deeper than the Dead, which I read via an ebook on my iPad.

Goal #4: Save More Money

Goal #4 for 2011 is to Save More Money.  I'm trying to stick to simple ways to do this as I don't have time to engage in an elaborate system.  Step One is to Set Clear Financial Goals.  Here's what I've got:

Spring cleaning . . . all of it. . . .

So I'm theoretically on a staycation yet I have committed myself to reading through my Google Reader (a full six weeks behind), updating my resume, looking for a teaching gig for the fall, meet with my retirement advisor, get my peepers checked out, set up a NALP conference call, and organizing my apartment. Oh, yeah, and I started a new part-time job this morning too. So not surprising, one of my favorite bloggers/LinkedIn experts, Lindsey Pollak, provided me the kick-in-the-pants that I needed through one of her blog postings. It was only the third thing I had read in my Google Reader! After a six week hiatus in the middle of my staycation!

What this comes down to is that I'm sometimes as bad as the overbusy students of whom she speaks. So it comes time to take stock, determine what I need/want, and how I'm going to get there. And that my friends, is why I love career advising folks. We're practical, yet hopeful and wishful, charting paths new and old. So thanks Lindsey, I needed that kick-in-the-pants.

Censoring & the Kindle

This blog post made me sigh. It made me think about why I believe it is okay for parents to go through your room -- I don't want anyone legislating what I or my (imaginary) kids should read, watch, or say. However, that doesn't mean that everything is age appropriate so though I don't think Mom rifled through my room very often, I fully recognize that she was responsible for my well-being (BTW, thanks for that Mom). But this whole Kindle business makes me also consider all the ways our government and corporate America have promised one thing, and given us something completely different (ex: broken treaties, corruption, ignored privacy agreements). If only we'd all be better about keeping our promises. Don't worry, Michael, I promise I'm looking at the woman in the mirror first. And thank you sweet Jesus for my Chicago Public Library card.

Win a $600 shopping spree from Alice.com!

My worst shopping experience was one of those post-Thanksgiving rushes. I’d just moved to Chicago, but was home for the weekend in Nebraska with my family. I needed a new winter coat that I could run in so we headed to the great deal on Columbia jackets near my mother’s home. I realize that people take the post-Thanksgiving thing seriously (I’ve worked as an Assistant Store Manager at a big box retailer), but I couldn’t believe the woman in front of us that was SCREAMING at the clerk because the color and size she wanted were no longer there. This was especially appalling because it was already 11 a.m. — what did she expect? That’s really late for one of these mornings! I felt horrible for the clerk and ended up finding a security guard to help escort this raving lunatic out of the store. I’ve rarely been so ashamed of my fellow human beings before.

http://twitter.com/scarletncream/status/2207420542

Free TP for a year!

I know I've talked about Alice before -- usually in my attempts to win things. Well, I'll admit I'm doing it again: I want free TP for year! I need free TP for a year because I live semi-communally (a large apartment building). One of my neighbors recently had their apartment broken into and the (allegedly) the perpetrator committed arson (wasn't in the perp's MO -- he had already confessed to the break-in). Well, at 1:30 a.m. on that Saturday night, we were woken by someone knocking on doors as that apartment's smoke alarm beeped. The fire department broke down the door, woke us all up, and then stayed speaking loudly in the hall for a few hours. Well, I don't want to shout "Oh, sheet!" (or something less decorous) at 1:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning and awaken my neighbors. Though at least it would probably be so quick, they'd never what had awakened them in the first place. Either way, I deserve free TP for a year because I don't want to awaken myself more than I need to just to fumble for more TP or worse yet, start looking for the tissues.

A little obsessed with Alice. . .

I used to be a horrible compulsive shopper. In the time since I've moved to Chicago, it has lessened because I have to be able to carry it all home. Which is why I love Alice -- I want stuff delivered to me, no shopping or compulsive purchases! And I'll be able to order toilet paper before I run out of it! As an Alice Twitter follower and blog reader, I'm hooked! I love the item pairings -- even the ones I'd never use (may I never own a car every again). I'm very eager to see what eco-friendly lines they'll be carrying. I love independent organizations, like Indigo Wild! (their laundry soap ROCKS!) and Method -- especially in conjunction with my new euro cleaner which completely makes me happy to use less chemicals!

And one more reason to love the Alice blog: they do fun giveaways! Check out the latest on AquaNotes -- I've decided I need two so that I can have a work list and an "other" list set. For example, this morning's shower included thoughts on: Father's Day gifts, programming ideas for work, my "to do" list (buy wedding card, new shoes and dress for wedding, and something else I've already forgotten).

Adventures in the Internets

Both personally and professionally, I've been experimenting with various new "internets" technology. Yes, I use plural purposefully, as I am beginning to utilize various mobile websites, my favorite being the CTA Bustracker. This led me to start following the blog, the CTA Tattler which includes news of that which has been "seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority." It is a bit of fun that I love to read, as it provides glimpses into local politics, opinions, and the plain crazy things people see and do on my new hometown's public transportation. Though my CTA Bustracker obsession is closely followed by closely followed by my love of Goodreads to remind myself of books I wanted to check out from the Chicago Public Library (seriously, so many books, so little time).

More significantly, I've also begun to experiment with ways to merge all my technologies together. I use my Twitter account to feed my Facebook updates which also feeds into this blog (this came in very handy when I was in Memorial Stadium this past weekend for the Red/White Spring Game). I'm perfecting my preferences for how to send tasks to my Remember the Milk account (a perpetual "to do list" and project management gem my colleague Vic shared with us at the NALP Annual Conference). For fun, I've added a widget that feeds news on my neighborhood from Your Street into this blog too. And I've begun to more aggressively use the Reader application in my gmail account to track all my RSS feeds from various blogs, but I'm still struggling with how to add Google Mobile to my phone. Ah, all in good time!