Thursday, August 09, 2007

Rustico

You know those Google mail ads really work! I was reading my gmail and noticed the Rustico Leather advertisement. I had my eyes on these gems for quite sometime now. A coworker gave me one long time ago a small pocket book with leather and a wrapped tie. At the time I wasn’t so much into writing about notebooks. I took that notebook with me to Hungary on an Artist residence. The small size was perfect for keeping phone and email addresses of people I met. The 3×5 inch was good for sketching too! The creamy paper was gorgeous to write and draw on. It took a variety of ink pens with out any problem. Years later, I discover that it is similar to, if not, a Rustico Journal! The year was 2000. Since then, the leather has aged beautifully in my hands.

I wrote to inquired about featuring Rustico’s fine line of leather journals. Isaac of Rustico replied quickly and is glad (and I’m glad to feature it.) to have us look at the numerous journals in different sizes that Rustico has to offer. There’s even a 3×3 exquisite little gem. I am to select one to examine. Hm…. what should I choose? Decision decisions…Well I leave you with this dilemma. Tell me which journal should I pick? Unless I hear other wise, I’m leaning towards the Traveler Journal with a distressed bomber leather jacket enclosed by a buckle. Issac tells me this is one of the most popular items. Here’s just one example of their popular Bomber Jacket Leather journal: http://www.rusticoleather.com.bomber

Starcraft 2

agloco

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My starcraft addiction started as a boy's night out. It was a LAN party. We play Starcraft Broodwar until 3am. That was before I was married so three or four years ago. I still play that game. It is a game of modern Chess for me. My favorite is the play against the Hardcomp 7 vs 1. I introduced my nephew to the game last year. Then I got an email from him with the link for Starcraft 2. I'm glad they improved the graphics. You know, I wasn't excited when the made a role play version of Starcraft for the PS2. But this PC version of improved graphics is something I'll get to play. My existing Rrood War has a defect because I can't play Zerg. I miss playing Zerge. It is very biographic and organic, almost sexual. A lot of the imagery is based on the movie Alien.
There's a blog about StarCraft: CreepColony.com


starcraft

RfA

Chicken or the Egg

I received ‘Ready for Anything’ (RfA) as a belated birthday present from my sister. She saw it on my Amazon wish list. It proves that once it’s on a list, the mind can forget about it and go on to the next thing. This came as a surprise. I don’t remember putting it on the list. Earlier, I dismissed this book in a conversation with Jennifer George, who thoroughly analyzed the text. I’ve been wondering several points about this slim book. I want to make comparisons to it as investigations into the organization philosophy. This book was born after ‘Getting Things Done’. In the order of thing, ‘Ready for Anything’ is the egg. If I compare the two, Ready for Anything is the philosophy in which GTD is the systematic execution, a methodology. There are some 52 short sections, which can be read as or compare to Koan. At times they are like Koan, because of they are mysterious in nature. At times, it’s hard to understand without a through understanding, and systematic practice of GTD. At times, RfA is a ‘Cliffnote’, a synopsis for the real text. Even though it is written after GTD, I wonder if this could have been a prequel, a predecessor, a subconsciousness lurking underneath GTD. It acts as if an introduction to the systematic execution of a process. In some ways, I prefer RfA, as it is not as dogmatic as GTD nor is it as instructional. It is rather a pondering about a methodology, a pretense for the rigor which is spelled out in GTD. The marvel of it is that, as systematic as GTD is, people who have read it devised their own system. GTD methodology is flexible. Another book by David Allen could not have conjure up a better scheme. It is better to revisit the existing scheme with new eyes and perspectives. I think that this is what RfA does best.

Eastern Philosophy or emptiness….

Interestingly, the majority of the book is spent defending his theory against the ‘Priority Based’. This was and may still be the pervasive thinking. When I was a ‘Franklin Covey’ (FC) guy, I didn’t prioritize my tasks either. In Eastern Philosophy, we are taught not to look at the duality of good or evil. Thus, prioritizing seems to pass on a judgment. I struggle with the goals and mission statements. Because at the time, I concentrate on the moment, the present. Again, this is a Zen philosophy. The other is the notion of Emptiness, which relates to Fung Shui. It is an idea that if your mind is empty it can receive insights. If your channels of energy is clear, more energy will flow. I would say that the majority of GTD philosophy is based on Easter Philosophy. David’s analogue to the ‘Mind like water’ is a zen practice. Stephen Smith has caught on to this and have found quotations from ‘The Book of Five Rings’ which matches David’s thinking. In RfA, much of the quotations are peppered along the margin. I find these quotes match well with the text and marvel at how David has found them to seamlessly illustrate his point.

52 card pick up

Strangely enough, the number 52 made me think of Decks of Cards. Because GTD has been adapted into the Hpda, index size, I wonder if the whole book can be squeezed down into this playing card version. Each sections can be on a card, maybe in a form of a Haiku: Collect, Process, Organize,/Review, Do (it). I think Jenifer George is right in saying that the chapters don’t relate or appear to be in any particular order. True to the form of non- prioritization, this book can function well as a shuffle deck of card. There is a theory of randomness and chance and organized chaos. This is where we step into the new age territory.

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