Seth Godin

He is such a classic example of a self-marketing genius, a profiler (as some in the civil service call it), with the slick packaging and quirky viewpoints, all extremely well-articulated in person and on paper. What irony that this guy is often labelled as a marketing guru: yes a guru in marketing first and foremost himself. No no, I certainly do not disapprove of him and his tactics to get ahead and get noticed. What I want to note is the importance that this society as a whole place on the ability to capture attention and get heard, and as a result get paid (very well) for it, even though what is being said is generally common sense or some very basic principles, but repackaged and delivered in bite-sized, snazzy style. And of course, publishing always helps, especially with a reputable university press, plus pocketing that coveted MBA to highlight your credentials. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Writing with Power

First impression: this is written in the "old style", very much unlike the practical guide/catchy/breezy "edutainment" style that has been so fashionable for the past decade. This book inspired me to put up another blog: freewritingfree.blogspot.com, which is a personal log to capture ideas, thoughts and other brain mush in a free-flowing way, with absolutely zero concern about editing, rearranging etc. No need for grammar, no need for coherence or even complete sentences. The whole idea is to produce raw writing that can become ingredients for picking and choosing, and then reproduction into written pieces, if the need arises in future. Here are some more interesting anecdotes and ideas culled from the book:

Stewing/Simmering process: Put in mind the general idea and all nuggets related to it, distract/relax yourself (he suggested having a beer or a nap) and sometimes things work themselves out. "The point is deeper thinking can go on when you relinquish your conscious grip on your material."

Some ways to work through your thinking (which definitely leads to better writing): he suggested about 13 and I picked up those that I thought were more applicable and useful or uncommon.

1. Prejudices: before thinking, reading and researching about the topic, record all your biases on the subject.

2. Dialogue: basically create voices that converse about the topic. This is interesting and requires a nimble and flexible mind but I can see it producing new and never-thought-of perspectives. "Writing a dialogue produces reasoning, but produces it spontaneously out of your feelings and perceptions."

3. Stories: best applied for purpose of writing a job analysis or an evaluation of a person/project. Keep stories short and succint.

4. Scenes: this is like taking photos. Write in a snapshot fashion, recalling significant or memorable incidents, sights, sounds etc and putting them in writing.

5. Portraits: this is about people and helps in evaulating an organisation, for example.

6. Errors/lies: write down things that are almost true or trying to be true, or even downright false. This is to capture odd, crazy things. Helps to uncover some important preoccupations and assumptions related to the topic.

Taxes

This is something new: French Environment Minister said France will begin taxing non-recyclable cutlery and plates to entice consumers to buy more eco-friendly products. They call it "picnic tax" which is at USD1.29 per kg; not much but better than nothing. The French got it right because it's more critical to tackle the problem of over-consumption, which results in over-production of environmentally unfriendly products and services, than tout the popular concept of recycling. It's not how much we recycle that can help the earth; it's how much we consume in the first place that matters. I wonder what S'poreans will say if there is such a tax. Surely we are not going to just swallow and whine secretly, given our love for catering buffets for every occasion, DIY East Coast bbqs/chalet etc. But then again, if the tax rate is SGD2 per KILO of plastic cutlery, the public will probably pay as much attention to it as they do to the BYOB-or-pay-10-cents-for-NTUC plastic bags scheme. Huh? Pay lor.

Multi-tasking

It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. Nothing dramatic like what Dickens wrote about but these are overwhelming times for me personally. Never really a great multi-tasker to begin with (although I think I should be quite ok since I managed to pull through under Sillypore's education system), I have been feeling rather overstretched recently. It's the best of times now because we are in the process of entering the next stage of our life together and it's the worst of times in light of the amount of stuff we have to oversee, co-ordinate and manage with a budget looming at the back of our heads. It's been tiring so I think the first thing to go will be the budget, given that we both really hate bargaining and foraging for the fabled best deal. Because we never really believe "best deal" ever exists; something has to go somehow and it's not the "best" if it's not totally what you want. But it's a good experience to be shocked by the cheek of some self-branded professionals charging exhorbitant prices just because they think people who are getting hitched are so lost in la-la-land that they cannot count the number of zeros. It's also good to get involved personally in the prep work, rather than settling for a cover-all package which may not cover all in the end. And honestly, I am kinda looking forward to the DIY aspects like the flowers and car deco plus working with the designer on the gowns. The creative part is always appealing and keeps me from getting bored, although that means I have more things to toggle between.

Shopping

This is a definite BUY. And to re-read. In fact, I am going to lug back a number of <百家讲坛> series of books, and most of them by Yi Zhongtian (易中天) when I head to China next month. His arrangement and style works particularly for people who have fragmented knowledge of the historical events during the Age of the Three Kingdoms and would like to have a clearer understanding of the motivations of the characters involved behind their decisions that shaped the political picture during those times. Picked up the book only lately, although I had heard much earlier about the book and Yi, who is now recognised as a historical/cultural authority (国学家) in China, after I was kinda impatient to sit through all the downloads of the TV series produced by the CPC, and reading the entire series is too time-consuming. I like that Yi followed the chronological order of events, while drawing on a number of respected historians' interpretation of the whats/hows/whys of events in the Three Kingdoms, although he appears partial towards a certain guy's reading of the psyche of major characters like Cao Cao, Liu Bei etc.

Another <百家讲坛> speaker to note is of course Yu Dan (于丹) but her books on Zhuangzi (庄子) and Lunyu (论语) are more "educational" in their thrusts, which is probably why she is so "welcomed" by the CPC, who finally saw the need to re-culturalise its people after stripping them of all moral values and thinking 40 years ago. Nonetheless, the series of historical/cultural tomes in <百家讲坛> has great merit in teaching us important lessons drawn from history and I always believe there is something useful in these lessons that can be applied to better and surpass ourselves.

Soul Mountain

灵山 defies conventional categorisation. Nobel Laureate Gao Xingjian (高行建) has carved out an entire new genre of writing that is semi-autobiograhical part-travelogue some-fiction. More of a document of a man's internal journey rather than record of his travel to the more remote areas in Western/Central China , he is adept at slipping into the psyche of different roles and does this so quickly that sometimes it's easy to lose track of who the "I", "You", "She" and "He" refer to. His treatment of women is more refined than Ma Jian (马建), who can sometimes be too provocative. But then I like Ma for different reasons.

The Trial

Was struggling towards the end to finish it. Maybe it was too suffocating for me. His attention to detail and precision in word choice make it real for the readers.

Crucial Conversations

I am now increasingly wary of picking up books like this, which tend to be very prescriptive and all say similar things in different ways. But I thought this might be a useful skim, after Nat suggested this. There are a few useful pointers, or rather reminders, which are noteworthy.

Focus on what I really want, and also what I really don't want - easy enough to know but very difficult to follow in reality, once emotions get stirred badly.

Start with the Heart - I have got to stop thinking those evil thoughts whenever something or more frequently someone crosses my path. But sometimes, I let my thoughts run loose in a rampage, and always end up feeling less well after that.

Try to find mutual purpose and foster mutual respect - obviously makes the other party more receptive to whatever shit I am going to fling across.

Stick to the facts and avoid judgement - this is in my own words, summarised effectively several chapters that I have hopped through.

Listen carefully for the real purpose and express interest for others' views - the trick here is to keep the other party talking without him putting up barb wires to defend himself.

Metamorphosis

Picked this up at the tiny library in Sembawang, cos I couldn't find Ma Jian's Stick out your Tongue. This is my first Kafka book and it has inspired me to read more of his works. The style here is unique, having not been exposed to German writers nor writers who write in German, the precise use of words in his writing is refreshing and adds power to the story. The other short story "The Sentence" is also pretty good, though less powerful.