For the past half a year I've been in the midst of training for a marathon. The decision to participate this year came after incessant badgering by a colleague. As I remember, when I finally agreed it came when my defences were low following a particularly stressful period at work, during which I couldn't think... Continue Reading →
On doing a great job, and not.
There's this post on Seth Godin's blog called "Avoiding the GIGO trap" that other than being brilliant as Godin's posts so often are, also reminded me of what I've always felt differentiated the people I've worked on the spectrum of face-slappingly awful to walk-on-water great. On the awful side of the spectrum, you have people who... Continue Reading →
The absurdity of running
I've clocked 80.76km so far in runs this month. That's almost 80.76km more than what I ran last month. The reason, I tell myself, that I have run so much is because there's quite a bit of a competition in the office. We've signed up for a marathon; we're tracking our runs; and being competitive... Continue Reading →
Life’s too short
Sometimes I think life's too short. There's so much I want to do! But then again, maybe it's just right, as said so beautifully by Lin Yutang in The Importance of Living: The situation then is this: man wants to live, but he still must live upon this earth. All questions of living in heaven... Continue Reading →
A single cloud leaves the peaks
From the book Master of the Three Ways (菜根譚) by Hong Zicheng: A single cloud leaves the peaks: Going or staying, with neither is it tangled. A bright mirror like moon hangs in the sky: Peace or noise, with neither is it concerned. I must have read the above passage twenty times before, without really... Continue Reading →
Not waving but drowning
"Just smile and wave boys," he said, as he walked out of the office door. We were going for lunch, and our poor colleague was stuck with the boss. It was a Madagascar reference. A cute, funny scene. But what it reminded me of was a poem by Stevie Smith; not quite as funny; not... Continue Reading →
To be like dirt
Flowers grow on dirt; manure. On diamonds? Never. May I be like dirt. May those who encounter me grow and bloom.
On reading novels and living the life you cannot live
I'm an avid reader, but have grown up reading almost exclusively non-fiction. Not because I don't enjoy them, or think any less of fiction than I do non-fiction; it's mostly because I can never remember the names of all the characters! (Especially in novels...) In non-fiction, the cast of characters tend to be ideas. And... Continue Reading →
Why do I run?
When Polly wants a cracker, Polly eats a cracker. But the million-dollar question is not whether parrots and humans can act out their inner desires - the question is whether they can choose their desires in the first place. Why does Polly want a cracker rather than a cucumber? Why do I decide to kill my... Continue Reading →
Two Quotes from Søren Kierkegaard
I came across two quotes from Kierkegaard recently, from two very different sources. It was quite a coincidence, and I thought that it must have been a sign. Here's the first, which funnily enough came from a book on IT leadership, called A Seat at the Table, by Mark Schwartz: If I were to wish for... Continue Reading →
Donn, fragments 