The Shape of Things

Last year I set out to read 12 books… 1 a month.  Sounds simple enough.  Well, I hit a 1200 page wall named Atlas Shrugged.  I will admit that I was enjoying the book, but damn it was big and heavy!  I just hated looking at how many pages I had left.  So it sits on my bookshelf waiting to be finished.

That was June… what happened to July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec?  Good question.  My great “book project” of 2010 had its highs and lows.  The high was without a doubt The Power of One. The low wasn’t Atlas Shrugged, I really was enjoying it… the low was just the fact that I didn’t have the endurance to finish.

As I was sitting at my brother-in-laws house in Portland during Christmas he was telling me about this book he read about the Vietnam war called Matterhorn. It was exactly what I needed.  I read the book in a few weeks and it even inspired me to start a book club at work.

I am excited for 2011, I have a couple recommendations from my all-star recommender (Nan-bot) and a few books that should challenge me as well.  Atlas Shrugged is not on the list for 2011, maybe I’ll try to tackle in 2012… maybe.

Just because I moved from Cali to Seattle 4 years ago doesn’t mean I don’t still bleed orange and black.  Today the SF Giants beat the Astros 5-2 in their season opener.  I was a bit nervous since the Giants Ace Tim Lincecum had a shaky spring training… however I was pleasantly surprised.  Lincecum had a great day striking out 7 in 7 innings without giving up a run.  Our new left-fielder (Mark DeRosa) had a great debut hitting a HR in the 8th.

I bought the MLB Gameday iPhone app, so I will be following my boys and listening to Kruk/Kip and Jon Miller all season long!

Go Giants!

I never paid much attention to polls, possibly because when I am polled I don’t really put much thought into the questions they are asking and the answers I give.

Now we have http://www.intrade.com

My buddy Gil turned me on to the website and I was instantly hooked.  When people actually put money down on an issue you know they have thought it out.

Here is a short video on how InTrade works.

WordPress released a new iPhone app. Just wanted to test it out.

Kelly has a great post over on her blog about my adventure today.

Check it out: Kid at Heart

Today I took the bus home. 10 miles. 1 hour 25 minutes. That is an average of just over 7mph.

Really? This is an alternative to driving? Driving takes me anywhere from 25-40 min. I know that taking the bus is very “green” but come on. 2 hours and 50 min round trip or 50 min? Which would you choose?

Well, I may have found some middle ground. Until it is warm enough in the morning to bike the whole way, tomorrow what I am going to try is biking it to I90 and then taking the 550 bus over the lake. That should take quite a bit less time and still should be better for the environment then driving.

I follow Chip Ingram’s blog and he had some great practical advice today:

You really get to know someone a lot better working with them and trying to accomplish something bigger than yourselves than you do by just sitting around a table talking.

I have encountered two examples of this theory as of late. Over the last couple months my wife and I were stuck in our garage putting up a garage door opener and I learned that she has a great ability to organize her thoughts and visualize a 2d drawing into a real life project.

Then just last weekend I went on a 25 mile bike ride (Seattle to the Mercer Island Loop and back) with my neighbor and we actually had a great conversation about work, life, fatherhood, dreams for our marriages, and the beauty of the Seattle area.

I guess Chip knows a thing or two about connecting with people. I am going to strive to be involved in more activities outside of just sitting at a cafe or on the sofa with someone.

Here is the blog post I was referring to:

http://chipingram.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/do_something_di.html

Took less then an hour on Craigslist…

Gotta love craigslist.

My wife’s company had their company’s summer picnic on the ‘Royal Argosy’ last friday and I was lucky enough to get to go along. I had to pretty much beg and plead to get out of work but I managed. The food was decent, the views spectacular, and I think we found our dream house on the north side of Bainbridge island.

I felt a little uncomfortable with all those really smart and creative people, but in the end everyone was very nice and I was glad I went.

Last weekend my wife and I traveled back to Minnesota for my Dad’s 50th birthday party. It was a quick 4 day trip but well worth it. I got to catch up with the family and see my two nieces and nephew. I also got to have lunch with an old buddy of mine which was great because we have both matured a lot since high school and it seems like we can have deeper talks now.