A Renewed Passion for Productivity

I’m pretty excited about life at the moment. I’ve had a fantastically productive week working with those things I enjoy most. Not that the MBA wasn’t at times enjoyable, but it sure is nice to return to a lifestyle where I can practice climbing and practice guitar. I want to take advantage of my minutes and really try and reach the next level of Mike D intensity. Last night was a beautiful start to this push for productivity. I got in some dedicated guitar scales work and a few hours at the climbing gym. At the gym I even used the fingerboard for a bit and pretty much slaughtered my digits.

In addition to the rock, rock climbing, and kung fu (tonight!!), I really want to get in a fair amount of reading. I have a book list that I’ve been working on and would love some reader recommendations. I’d like to have a pleasant mix of fiction and non-fiction.

My current list starts with She’s come undone by Wally Lamb. I still want to get through the Astronomy book that I mentioned to you guys a while back and there are two financial books that I’d like to read (Black Swan by Taleb and A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Malkiel). Do any of you guys have any recommendations?

11 thoughts on “A Renewed Passion for Productivity

  • 2/4/2009 at 11:18 am
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    That reminds me, I need new guitar strings. One of the brand new strings broke while I was stringing it. Really ticked me off.

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  • 2/4/2009 at 11:33 am
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    All the Rabbit books by John Updike!!! I also really like Wicked, but maybe that’s a chick book?

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  • 2/4/2009 at 11:51 am
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    How about A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson for some non-fiction.

    I’ve also been using Agatha Christie books as my fluff go to books for travelling. They are interesting, easy to read even if you are tired or stressed and she’s written a million books so I can keep going back to them.

    I also read some Neil Gaiman this summer and enjoyed his books a lot.

    In addition I enjoy flahsbacks from my childhood, Narnia, Wrinkle in Time, etc. It’s fun to read them as an adult and you can usually finish one in a couple of hours so it’s not a huge commitment.

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  • 2/4/2009 at 12:26 pm
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    I just finished Liar’s Poker by Micheal Lewis. It recounts 2 years he spent working for Solomon Brothers 1986-1988, and it really reads as if it were describing the current financial mess (largely because it seems like lessons were not learned from the collapse in ’87 and the S&L crisis.)

    I’m now reading a different Taleb book Fooled by Randomness. Let me know when you finish Black Swan.

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  • 2/4/2009 at 2:20 pm
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    The Road – Cormac McCarthy

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  • 2/4/2009 at 3:21 pm
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    A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving

    A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

    The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

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  • 2/4/2009 at 5:02 pm
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    I liked the Wicked Musical much better than the book. The author seemed very pretentious to me. Throwing big words at me like he was showing off.

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  • 2/4/2009 at 6:32 pm
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    Although I did not read Wicked or any of his other books, Gregory Maguire, who lives in Concord, MA, came to speak at our high school. He was very interesting , seemed to enjoy speaking to the kids, and in person did not seem at all pretentious. Just the fact that he’d take the time to come to SHS was impressive to all of us – everyone enjoyed his visit!

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