maker's schedule vs. manager's schedule

just read an interesting article referenced from slashdot: Maker's schedule, Manager's schedule.

to summarize, the writer claims managers (and those in power) operate in hour-long chunks, by default they change what they're doing every hour. on the other hand, makers operate in half-day chunks. when their half-day chunk is slashed in the middle by a meeting, productivity decreases by more than that 1 hour.

this is very interesting for me to read! being a maker, i do feel a sense of exhilaration when i know i have a few hours to devote on something (code, debug, or even making an architectural diagram). however, that happens very rarely nowadays. i find myself having to context switch between many meetings and tasks constantly, and wonder if that's a sign that i am getting more senior or just not being as productive as i can be..

fly me to the moon, but only if i were a boy?

i recently had the pleasure of watching the new 3D animated movie, "fly me to the moon". the movie was cute and very well done, the 3D experience was definitely fun. making flies and maggots look cute and lovable is not an easy feat.

however, while i was watching it, i couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the female characters were incredibly weak. the female lead, mother of the main character, kept fainting, while her dad rolls her eyes at her. her big "growth" from the movie was that at the end, she did not faint. you go girl!

i don't think cooking and fainting were the only things women did back when the apollo 11 took flight, and we have made so much progress since then. i thought this movie was made partially to encourage young people interested in space exploration again, why shut out all girls (all 3 adventurous flies were boys)? it's true that there were no female astronauts in apollo 11, but in this fictitious story (flies aboard the rocket!), they could've had a girl fly too...?

i saw quite a few young girls in the audience, i really hope they did not take away the same message i did.

auto-generated blog!

how lazy can you be? :D

Wholy smoke I just noticed I have not updated this since the Clintons were in the Whitehouse... You would not believe I'm normally a control freak. I hope you still love me!.

I am hopped up on caffeine with discovering time doesn't stand still, being distracted by the shiny, just generally being a nuisance to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day is passing in a blur from dawn to dusk. I am plotting and planning. but who cares.

I absolutely, positively promise I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. You have my word! Don't hold your breath though, you're likely to turn blue..

from http://www.aussiebloggers.com.au/blogpost.html

fitness tip #2

fitness tip #2 - set goals!

this tip works nicely with tip #1, so you can reward yourself when you reach a certain goal. i find having some kind of specific goal motivates me to continue with a fitness routine (as opposed to more general goals like "get healthier" or "lose weight").

also, you may want to set easier/more creative goals that are more encouraging when you start out. for example, "work out 3 times this week, 1 hour each time", or "able to do bicep curls with x lb weight in y weeks", or "only have 1 sugar drink in a week". basically, don't focus all your attention on "lose x lbs in y days". if you are gaining muscles, you may actually gain a pound or two even when you're losing fat!

life development plan

between my career development plan, the imbos, and project deadlines, i have a pretty solid idea what i'm doing at work each week/month/quarter. however, it just occurred to me that i don't have as good a "life development plan".

up to this point in life, things were pretty well defined for me. go to college, go to grad school, find a job, get married, buy a house, etc. now i am free to do anything i want, and i feel a little lost. outside the context of work, what do i see myself in 5 years, or 10 years? what is my purpose in life?

yesterday my dad attended his coworker's funeral, who died of burst aneurysm at the tender age of 43. has he accomplished what he wanted out of life? we always think we have time, we'll get to it, but do we really?

i like this quote from robert heinlein: "in the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.". seems appropriate to end with it here.

tried and true fitness tip #1

first, some disclaimer is probably appropriate. i do not look like *insert your favorite female celeb here*, in fact, i can stand to lose a few more pounds. but in my unending quest for fitness, i've accumulated quite a few tips that make sense to me. i'll share them here somewhat as a reminder to myself to stay diligent. those will be posted in no particular order, when i feel like them.

without further ado, here's one that i like:

reward yourself, but not with food!

if you successfully reached a goal, do reward yourself! having that something to look forward to may help get you through that last set of curls. however, don't make the reward a buffet meal or a big chocolate bar. get a massage! buy a new cute workout outfit! get some fun workout gadget like a pedometer! be creative, think of rewards that works for you, just not food.