The American Scholar: Solitude and Leadership – William Deresiewicz

I hate reading stuff like this. It hurts too damn much.

Now that’s the third time I’ve used that word, concentrating. Concentrating, focusing. You can just as easily consider this lecture to be about concentration as about solitude. Think about what the word means. It means gathering yourself together into a single point rather than letting yourself be dispersed everywhere into a cloud of electronic and social input. It seems to me that Facebook and Twitter and YouTube—and just so you don’t think this is a generational thing, TV and radio and magazines and even newspapers, too—are all ultimately just an elaborate excuse to run away from yourself. To avoid the difficult and troubling questions that being human throws in your way. Am I doing the right thing with my life? Do I believe the things I was taught as a child? What do the words I live by—words like duty, honor, and country—really mean? Am I happy?
via The American Scholar: Solitude and Leadership – William Deresiewicz.

Thoughts on the Visible Self

I’ve found myself recently doing things to not seem weird. This is because I’ve been recently going to work early and leaving work late. The leaving work late isn’t a new thing but the going to work early is. I’ve also been moving around the different deployments we have because the different people I need to consult are at different clients.
 
I’ve found myself a little subconscious of late. It seems to be because I’ve not had enough time to scout the surroundings and the people because most of the free time I have I either spend working/studying/skype with the GF.
 
Not wanting to alienate other people I’ve turned into a bland version of me.
 
It’s like I’ve pushed through the lizard brain with respect to work that the lizard brain that concerns the social/visible self has taken hold of that aspect of me.
 
 

rePost::Five Lies I No Longer Believe | TODD HENRY

“COMFORT IS THE GOAL OF LIFE”
This is a pervasive and sinister belief that has – at times – caused me to compromise more than I should. When I aspire to comfort as the greatest goal of life, I refuse anything that might cause me pain or hardship, even if that means I have to abandon my pursuit of true north.
It is struggle that gives life its meaning, and the pauses and blessings that punctuate its landscape. Sometimes that struggle is against self and the laziness that craves only comfort. The creative process is a personal assault on the beachhead of apathy, and to succumb to the path of comfort is to turn our backs on the greatness that is on the other side of sacrifice. I refuse to allow comfort to be my ambition. Comfort is often the enemy of greatness.
via Five Lies I No Longer Believe | TODD HENRY.

RANT::CTC FU

I’ve been very productive the past few days. It seems CTC the job is not as productivity draining as I originally imagined.
I’m CTCing because our clients are inflexible, indecisive, stubborn, know it alls, whose word is law.
No matter if they actually know less of the repercussions of their decisions.
 
If this continues I may have to find a new job.

FTS 2012 01 02

FTS in my definitions is Fuck That Shit or Fuck This Shit, the words are too common and near for the win that they probably are widely used,
 
The rant today is due to having two managers to report to.
Two managers with different management styles who seem to never talk to each other.
Two managers who need to be reminded that you have other deliverables.
 
This is a recipe for mediocrity. Having to do lots of stuff with almost the same deadlines.
 
Let it be said that I don’t actually hate my managers far from it. It’s the situation that we are all in that is the reason for this. Fuck This Shit.
One day when the FTS days get too often too much the FTS becomes FTS I Quit.

2012 Regular Holidays and Special Non-Working Days

Got this memo from the HR department.

 
Date : December 06, 2011
To : ALL EMPLOYEES
From : HR Department
Re : 2012 Regular Holidays and Special Non-Working Days
_____________________________________________________________________
Below are the regular holidays and special non-working days for the year 2012 per
Proclamation No. 295
Regular Holidays:
January 1 – New Year’s Day (Sunday)
April 5 – Maundy Thursday
April 6 – Good Friday
April 9 – Araw ng Kagitingan (Monday)
May 1 – Labor Day (Tuesday)
June 12 – Independence Day (Tuesday)
August 27 – National Heroes Day (Last Monday of August)
November 30 – Bonifacio Day (Friday)
December 25 – Christmas Day (Tuesday)
December 30 – Rizal Day (Sunday)
Special Non-working Days:
January 23 – Chinese New Year (Monday)
August 21 – Ninoy Aquino Day (Tuesday)
November 1 – All Saints Day (Thursday)
November 2 – Additional special (non-working) day (Friday)
December 31 – Last Day of the Year (Monday)
Special Holiday (for all schools)
February 25 – EDSA Revolution Anniversary (Saturday)
Eid Il Fitr, or the end of Ramadan will be declared upon the recommendation of the Office of Muslim Affairs.
 

First thoughts would be lots of long weekends, what we get for the dearth of long weekends this year. Yahoo! Must book flights now!!!