VANTAN.ORG

How I rate music in iTunes (and how it can be applied to other aspects of life)

2009-10-31T04:13:24Z

Throughout my life and work, I’ve found that ratings are subjective. You can use quantitative methods to make the methodology more objective, but often these are based on qualitative assessments as well. Of course, if you are looking at something very mechanical, like quality control for widget production, then there’s little to argue about. But for most other areas of life, where a human touch is involved, things are subjective.

Which brings us to a subject that’s one of my all-time favourites (and probably yours as well): Music.

Being a music lover, I listen to a lot of genres. As my collection has grown to over 8,000 tracks, I keep it organised by rating and sorting songs into manual playlists. I also have Smart Playlists which automatically add, remove or re-order songs based on certain criteria. So accurate ratings are needed to keep everything in check.

Using iTunes, songs can be rated from 1 to 5 stars (or unrated, which is 0 stars). Initially, we may rate things quite subjectively. On a day that we’re tired of hearing songs by a certain artist or genre, we may rate those songs more poorly. We may also feel obliged to rate certain songs more highly simply because they’re at the top of the charts - even if we don’t like the music as much, ourselves. But after a while, we start to figure out what we really want out of this.

Occasionally, I even find myself ‘moderating’ my own ratings - just like how some wine aficionados re-rate a certain vintage as time goes by and tastes have matured. From what I’ve gathered of my own practices, this is how I rate music:

0 stars (35% of my collection) - Neutral or Not Rated for some reason or other. These could be audio recordings I’ve made, podcast files, sermons, speeches, lectures, audiobooks, computer game music - all of which are not inherently ‘bad’ - I simply don’t have an opinion of them, nor do I want them added to any Smart playlist. I also generally avoid rating Gospel & Religious music because I have a different reason for listening to it. If songs were people: This would be the majority of people I may have met but have not really formed a strong impression of, positive or otherwise

1 stars (<0.1%) - Yuck! Why did I buy this in the first place? Probably because it was part of an album. A 1-star song might be deleted from my hard drive because I’d never want to listen to it again. For this reason I don’t have many 1 star songs. People I wouldn’t want to see again

2 stars (about 5%) - Below average songwriting and/or performance. Most likely will be unchecked in iTunes so it won’t go into my iPod/iPhone. This includes a few bad apples by some of my favourite artistes. So, no holds are barred. People on the periphery of my radar - may interact occasionally with them but may not really want to forge a stronger relationship with them

3 stars (about 30%) - Not bad. May include some smash hits that other people may have loved but which I find just OK. Could be pleasant-sounding but boring. Periodically, some 3 star songs may be moved up to 4 stars if I was too hasty in my earlier judgment, if my tastes have matured, or if the song grew on me over time. Decent people whom I’d stay in touch with. As I get to know them better, I will learn more about them and revise my opinions about them.

4 stars (about 28%) - Stuff I like and would be proud to put on any playlist and play at a party. May or may not be a smash hit, but good in my books. The tunes must be fairly catchy, have a nice modulation or something else unusual to help them stand out. Again, some songs may be reviewed over time and bumped up or down a star. People I would call friends, not acquaintances. These include colleagues (current and past) who I get along well with

5 stars (<1.5%) - Music that gives me a high whenever I hear it. Songs I cannot do without, and can listen to anytime. Hard to get tired of. I probably know many of these song lyrics by heart - or almost. I can probably play them by ear, too. Many are old favourites while others are fairly new additions but are instantly likeable and endearing (as with friends and wine). Very occasionally, some 5 star songs will be taken down a notch if I’ve grown tired of them. My closest group of friends, from different walks of life. Mostly those I’ve met a while ago, but I’m open to adding new people.

In summary, when rating songs (or appraising anything else, for that matter), especially if you want a coherent system:

Be true to yourself. This is especially if your tastes aren’t mainstream. Other people will have a different idea about things, but don’t get affected by this. It’s your stuff. You can always create a playlist that’s popular with mainstream folks, to please the crowds at parties.
Be consistent. As human beings, we can never be 100% consistent at any point in time. But we can review and fine-tune what we’ve done before, so that a certain standard is established across the board.
Allow some flexibility. Times change. Tastes change. After several years, you may find yourself relooking a certain artiste or genre. Do it some justice by reviewing the ratings. Again, apply 1) and 2): Make the system adapt to your new tastes, and keep reviewing what you’ve done before.

Note: Points 2) and 3) are not contradictory but complementary. Act consistently on a flexible framework.

Ultimately, as with many things in life, such as good friends and wine, the test of attrition - being exposed to the subject over a period of time - will help you decide if something is worth keeping or reviewing.

Likelihood of MBTI types becoming managers

2009-10-25T16:32:19Z

I’ve been reading the book ‘YOU - Being More Effective In Your MBTI Type’. The book indicates the percentage of the population with each MBTI type, as well as the percentage of managers represented by each MBTI type.

So I put two and two together, and came up with a ratio (% managers to % population).

From the list, you may notice:

8 of the 16 MBTI types have a higher ‘likelihood’ of being managers (which I’ve coloured in green):

6 out of these 8 are Intuitive (N)
6 out of these 8 are Thinking (T)
6 out of these 8 are Judging (J)
It doesn’t seem to matter if you are Introvert (I) or Extrovert (E) as they are equally represented
The ‘best’ categories are the NTJs followed by the NTPs, the STJs and finally the NFJs.
Extroverts tend to do better than their Introvert equivalents, but the difference isn’t significant - they’re always paired together according to the ratio I’ve calculated

So I deduce that managers - at least according to the authors’ definition - tend to be big picture, thinking rather than feeling, and decisive - taking the lead. However I believe one must strike a balance. Even if we’re big picture, we shouldn’t be sloppy about important details. Even if we’re analytical about things, we shouldn’t forget about people. And even if we like structure, we have to accept the fact that nothing in life is 100% assured so we have to be open to changes too.

Of course, my analysis comes with a disclaimer:

I am not a certified MBTI professional
This data is based on US figures, 1998
Not everyone wants to become a manager and just because your MBTI type is less likely destined for managerial roles, doesn’t make you less worthy as a human being
It’s unclear whether these people are actually ‘good’ managers or not, as that would be a subjective assessment
Your own MBTI type can change over time, so nothing is cast in stone

As someone who took the official MBTI test and scored EN(FT)J (50%F, 50%T), I welcome constructive comments on my analysis.

The day I thought I'd go blind

2009-10-23T16:19:56Z

Yesterday afternoon, I was doing my work, staring hard at the figures on a spreadsheet, when I noticed little specks of light in my vision. At first they were negligible, but then there were more specks.

Soon, I could barely read the text on my screen because the specks of light blocked me from focusing on the centre of my vision.

Even more bizarrely, these specks of light were clustered into a zig-zag pattern. From the right side of my right eye, this pattern shifted until it seemed to be balanced between my right and left eyes. This is an illustration of what I saw:

I thought I had a detached retina! With what little vision I had left, I Googled for ‘detached retina’ and learnt that I could very well be suffering from the first warning signs. If I did not seek treatment soon, I might go blind!!!!

But it could also be a false alarm. Maybe if I rested my eyes, the dazzling zig zag would go away. So I used eye drops to soothe my eyes, and leaned my head back, believing that (from my layman point of view) it might slow down the tearing of the retina. For a while, it didn’t seem to improve much.

So I sat there for a while, bracing myself in case I did lose my vision. Thoughts that came to mind as I sat there, with eyes closed:

How am I going to play the piano now? Would I have to be like Stevie Wonder? I pictured myself feeling for the right keys and turning to music to lift me out of my misery from being blind.
If I did go blind, I’d ironically be worse off than those who were born blind, or became blind early in their life, because their other senses were more heightened. Also, I’d have to live with the pangs of having been able to see in the past - knowing I’ve missed out on a good thing.
“God, is this happening to me for a purpose?”
How many people would still be my friends if I went blind? (I believe that being cast into a difficult situation is one way to find out who your true friends are)
How can I communicate with the rest of the world if I can’t see what’s on the Internet? Can I adapt to screen readers and dictate my blog posts? Plus, I’d probably have to give up my iPhone, because there are no keys to feel.
What kind of work could I do, if I was blind? Could I continue doing my current job?

I thought the retinal detachment was occuring in my right eye, since there appeared to be more specks of light on the right side. However, when I closed my right eye, I still saw specks of light through my left eye. So was there something wrong with my brain’s receptor instead? That didn’t sound good either.

The dazzling lights eventually faded, but I was persuaded to see a doctor anyway, to be safe. All this while, with whatever vision I had left, I texted my family, boyfriend and updated my Facebook profile so that at least, if I did go blind, all my friends would know what was happening.

I made it to hospital and had my blood pressure taken as well as various eye tests (verdict: my blood pressure is normal and eyesight is fine). Lastly I had my pupils dilated and a snapshot of each eye’s retina was taken. The good news is my retinas are normal. However, I most likely had a case of ocular migraine. The doctor asked if I have been working very hard lately, and I said yes. I also have not been getting much sleep and spend most of my time looking at a screen. Also, I didn’t have a headache, which I thought was usually associated with migraine.

So I’m monitoring the situation. If the problem recurs, I’ll see a neurologist. Maybe I need to take a nature walk or something, instead of looking at my screen all the time.

If you had to give up a sense, which would you pick? And if you had to give all of them up one by one, how would you prioritise them? I thought I could give up my sense of smell first. Then taste.

I may be hard pressed to give up touch, because it is dangerous not to know how things feel, especially if you’ve hurt yourself but can’t feel the pain. But it would probably be next. I would then have to give up either eyesight or hearing.

Laughter - the best medicine

2009-10-22T15:56:00Z

There’s been a lot of humorous happenings going on in my department, and I hope it continues. I think it’s a healthy reaction to the inevitable - things don’t always happen as planned, and if we can’t do much about it, then we look on the bright side and have a good laugh about it.

I think the atmosphere’s lightened up a lot. Of course this doesn’t distract away from the growing amount of work we have to do, but at least it frames things in a more positive light.

It’s certainly made me look forward to going to work more. That’s what I tell my rich friends in the private sector. Not all of them have the same feelings about their jobs, though it’s assumed their pay should compensate them for it. I guess you can’t always have your cake and eat it.

Many more thoughts are running through my head, but it’s time to sleep. Another big day lies ahead.

Follow, unfollow

2009-10-20T16:51:05Z

I’ve been on Twitter long enough (980 days) to notice a trend in how people are followed and unfollowed. At a superficial level, there are plenty of relatively new Twitterers who seek popularity by following lots of people, in the hope that these people will reciprocate.

In most cases, this tactic works. Because most people on Twitter are ordinary folk, and it’s polite to return the favour.

The less Twitter-savvy observers may think that those people have always been very popular. But you should look at the number of people they follow in the first place.

A profile with many followers that follows few people: Usually a celebrity or famous businessperson or author who follows only his/her own clique.

A profile that follows many people but has very few followers: Possibly spam. Or it may be another of those self-promoting marketers who are trying to get onto everyone else’s Follow list.

What I don’t advocate is following people just for the sake of looking good. Twitter isn’t just about showing how many people in the world like following you; it gives you a platform to engage other people in a succinct way. It provides the opportunity to have a conversation that can be directed at someone, yet be accessible by everyone else. And, unlike a blog feed that people subscribe to, you can put names and faces to the people who follow you on Twitter. In short, Twitter can make your world smaller but friendlier.

So my advice for Twitter is: Don’t just follow. Lead.

Empty show and glory

2009-10-12T15:20:37Z

Today, I had the pleasure of having lunch at a friend’s place. While her home was old, there was a lot of happiness and synergy between her sister, the long-serving maid (treated as a member of the family) and father. The house didn’t have designer furniture or fancy architecture, but I told her I could feel it was a ‘comfortable’ house.

I’ve known my friend for a while and have heard about her family, and today, everything was consistent with what I heard.

Sometimes, when I see such places and people, it makes me think about what we ourselves have made of our lives, and how we value material things versus people. What do we place a higher priority on - the desire to achieve a higher social status (or the need to keep up appearances), or being satisfied with what one has?

In short, would you rather have the life of Veronica, or Betty?

I have been thinking about it for a while. I would far prefer living in a simple home where people respect each other and get along, than in a big house with famous people, earning lots of money, but with a greater share of unhappiness. Sometimes there can be much more stress living in a complicated, high-achievement environment where the slightest mistake is judged and remembered for years to come. Material things become valued more highly than people, and status more important than relationships.

We tend to think that the economically disadvantaged may have unhappier lives because they cannot buy the things they want. Yet some people from poorer countries can be happy, too. Conversely, some rich people are never satisfied because you can never have enough money. There will always be someone richer, smarter, more powerful than you, and even if you’re number 1, it’s only for a while.

Meanwhile, to get to the top of the ladder, you must have stepped on some toes, and you may meet these people on your way back down. And you never know for sure who your real friends are, because to them, you came packaged with worldly offerings, which tend to attract worldly people.

In the end, it’s when you retire from all vestiges of power that you discover who your real friends are. And it’ll be on your deathbed that you’ll rediscover who your loved ones are.

Black: a collection of objects in my life

2009-10-10T15:23:56Z

Bought this at the cool stationery shop at Orchard Central. I like the envelope, which can hold scraps of paper.

Designer hole puncher, bought at the same shop.

Black cotton buds.

An old black Casio watch which tells me the positions of the planets.

Black laptop cooling dock.

A little black book.

My most inspirational black musician. (We share the same birthday)

And finally, my favourite black thing:

My black Bösendorfer grand piano, which has given me many years of happiness.

Career options for my personality type

2009-09-30T15:32:59Z

How interesting that I have already explored some of the career options typical for ENFJs, which is my personality type.

See the excerpt I’ve lifted from this resource, and my comments (in brackets).

ENFJ careers to consider

The following career areas are good places to look for a suitable occupation if you are an ENFJ. When thinking about these, remember that your perfect job might not be here, and that there are other professions that can meet these criteria in general.

Social Worker:

Day care coordinator.

Child welfare worker.

Care facility worker.

Counselor / Psychologist:

Private counselor. (I’ve received some church training, and have counselled people before)

Educational psychologist.

Career counselor.

Coach.

Health and wellness:

Public health educator. (By Jove! That’s what I was doing!)

Occupational therapist.

Chiropractor. (I would need training for that, unless you’re a masochist)

Dietitian / Nutritionist. (ditto)

Holistic health practitioner. (no New Age stuff for me though)

Optometrist. (I can’t see myself doing that)

Charity worker:

Non-profit organization director. (Mmm that sounds good)

Fundraiser. (Not in this economy)

Teacher / Lecturer:

College lecturer. (I have spoken at SMU and NUS but not on a regular basis)

Special education teacher.

Clergy (I have given testimony to the masses but haven’t gone further than that)

Creative:

Composer. (yes)

Writer. (yes)

Graphic designer. (done that too)

Editor. (yes)

Set designer. (not really, but I used to design computer game layouts and maps… does that count?)

Music/entertainment. (yes!)

Human Resources:

HR development trainer.

HR recruiter. (I have recruited colleagues before)

Administrator / Manager:

College or University administrator.

Small business executive. (why small only??)

Sales and Marketing:

Marketing manager. (possible)

Customer relations manager. (I’ve handled public complaints before)

Communications director. (ooh that sounds good)

Advertising account executive.

Events coordinator. (please no)

Sales representative.

Website content writer. (done that)

Copywriter. (done that)

Consultant:

Management consultant. (yes please… then again, aren’t I kind of doing that already, in-house?)

Project manager. (done that)

Corporate team trainer. (we take turns to train our team mates)

Politicians / Diplomats (possible)

Media and Journalism:

Producer. (I nearly became one, but my company closed down)

Reporter. (nearly)

Journalist. (yes - i was a columnist)

Music / entertainment director. (yeah!)

Catering:

Hotel and restaurant manager. (I don’t think I catered to that)

What I was up to, for the last 2 weeks

2009-09-29T15:11:14Z

Music & Travel

I was busy with my cousin’s wedding, which began in Singapore (church + dinner) and a week later, ended in Penang (dinner).

I tried hard not to suffer from performance anxiety, and ended up Twittering a lot just hours before I was scheduled to play the wedding march. What was amusing was my cousin the groom was also Twittering back to me!

While in Penang, the Tan clan enjoyed their stay at the very chic G Hotel (which has been featured in Wallpaper and Monocle, no less) and a few of us enjoyed 2 straight nights of jazz at the hotel bar, albeit with too much cigarette and cigar smoke around us. Needless to say, the Penang hawker food was excellent, but I really had to hold back on the char kway teow. I hit the gym instead. Twice.

In between the two wedding dinners, I played the piano for a grand farewell party for a senior colleague. So all in all, it has been a very eventful week, with lots of piano practicing involved.

New geek toy

My Dell 23” HD monitor arrived over the weekend, and I am quite pleased with it! It has VGA and DVI-D ports to connect straight to PCs and Macs respectively, and is in a beautiful combination of white and black. It was on sale for a while, but I held back from buying it. Which was just as well, because Dell then lowered the prices further! So I payed S$279 for it, not including the extended 5-year warranty.

However, it’s a little too big for the corner of the desk (where I originally intended to place it). Ideally I wanted it positioned such that I could use it as a 2nd monitor while working on my MacBook Pro, and then turn it slightly so I can watch shows from my bed, further away. It’s now in a more awkward position, but in a more spacious location, on another part of my desk. So I am thinking of swopping it with my G5’s 20” monitor (in my music studio). The smaller 20” monitor would fit more comfortably on my desk, exactly where I want it to be.

The lesson: Less is more, more is less.

But now it appears that I may need to bring my Dell monitor to work, because I have been squinting at my small laptop screen, trying to go through my project plans and spreadsheets. We won’t be getting monitors so soon, but we were also advised not to buy any new hardware because eventually something will be done about it. As a result I’m stuck in the middle. So I may bring this rather large monitor to work, until the official monitors arrive.

People, old and new

A longlost friend got in touch with me, out of the blue. Other friends I haven’t seen in a while, also want to meet up. Also, I seem to have become an agony aunt and counsellor to a good friend. So things are getting interesting.

On Friday evening I will play host to a foreign visitor. This is part of my new work, which I hope will be exciting and fulfilling. I am getting to know my new team mates better, which is always a good thing.

While I didn’t intend to keep score, I realised that this week I passed the 500 mark for number of connections on LinkedIn. However I also received a number of requests from would-be MBA students, would-be INSEAD students, and random people from foreign countries who I had no connections with. The MBA applicants want to ask me lots of questions and get in touch with them. The others don’t even write a personal message to explain why they’re connecting with me. I’ve decided to ignore them all because I do not have time to upkeep such relationships, and because they’re complete strangers who I shouldn’t be connecting with.

Pride

Finally, I learnt that 3 web projects I worked on have been nominated for national awards. One project was largely of my own blood, toil and sweat, and I really enjoyed conceptualising it and working with the creatives who implemented it. If we win something, you’ll definitely hear about it from me later. It was quite difficult for me to sleep that night, because I was simply so happy that we made it this far.

So, onwards and hopefully upwards!

Kim Clijsters: How focus wins the game

2009-09-13T16:08:10Z

If you watched the US Open ladies’ semifinals match between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams, you’d have witnessed a stark contrast in mindsets. At some points, it was a close match. But what won in the end was emotional intelligence.

After blogging earlier about Daniel Goleman’s book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, I re-read the chapter on Self-Control and watched a replay of the match, which Serena lost due to unsportsmanlike conduct. It was “unfortunate”, as Kim put it, but she herself stayed focused and didn’t lose her cool.

According to Daniel Goleman, self-regulation is one of the personal competencies of emotional intelligence. Self-regulation is defined as ‘managing impulse as well as distressing feelings’. These form the core of five emotional competencies, one of which is self-control - ‘managing disruptive emotions and impulses effectively’.

People with this competence:

Manage their impulsive feelings and distressing emotions well

Stay composed, positive, and unflappable even in trying moments

Think clearly and stay focused under pressure

Kim was amazingly calm, whether or not she won or lost a point. Serena on the other hand lost her cool, broke a racquet and confronted a linesman who had called her out on a foot-fault. This resulted in her being penalised and losing the match.

Worse, this emotional fallout occurred in a very public setting. Serena’s angry words were reported (albeit with some variations) by news media. Her aggressive stance was captured and replayed repeatedly on TV and discussed on forums and Twitter, making the incident stand out even more. Hopefully she will cool off, reflect on this and come out mentally stronger. IMHO she should apologise for her behaviour too.

Let’s see this as a good lesson given by both players on how, and how not, to react under pressure.

And before we all forget the quality of the match itself - Kim, you did play a great game.

[Update: Kim wins the US Open!]

Working with Emotional Intelligence -

2009-09-13T09:44:06Z

Currently I’m reading ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’, which is Daniel Goleman’s follow-up to his hugely successful book, ‘Emotional Intelligence’.

Here’s an excerpt which is relevant to the work I’m currently handling. As we endeavour to improve information flow, we must remember it’s not just having a knowledge repository (systems/infrastructure) but building a sharing culture (people):

When it comes to technical skill and the core competencies that make a company competitive, the ability to outperform others depends on the relationships of the people involved. In [John Seely] Brown’s words, “You can’t divorce competencies from the social fabric that supports them.”

Just as maximising the IQ of a small working group depends on the effective knitting together of the people within the group, so with organizations as a whole: Emotional, social, and political realities can enhance or degrade what the organization potentially can do. If the people in the organization cannot work well together, if they lack initiative, connection, or any of the other emotional competencies, the collective intelligence suffers as a result.

This need for smooth coordination of widely distributed knowledge and technical expertise has led some corporations to create a new role: that of “chief learning officer,” or CLO, whose job it is to direct knowledge and information within an organization. But it’s all too easy to reduce an organization’s “intelligence” to its databases and technical expertise. Despite the ever greater reliance on information technology in organizations, it’s put to use by people. Organizations that have such learning officers might do well to expand the CLO’s (or someone’s) duties to include maximizing the collective emotional intelligence.

Is HBR for or against Twitter?

2009-09-11T14:52:04Z

Look closely at the screenshot of the Harvard Business Review’s home page, above. The rightmost article discusses the disadvantages of using of Twitter, but just below it is a button for subscribing to HBR’s Twitter feed.

OK, it’s not as straightforward as that but I couldn’t resist showing the irony lurking on the surface. The author of the article feels that it’s better to send a customised email ‘forward’ rather than Tweet a link to all your followers. I agree that if possible, one should send personal emails to show that you care for other people’s interests.

However, it isn’t possible to do that all the time, and sometimes Twitter and Facebook are simply more effective ways of getting more generic news snippets out to the masses. Which is exactly what HBR is doing with their Twitter feed.

Also, one can send impersonal mass emails (almost like ‘spam’), or use Twitter’s DM or @reply function to respond personally to someone. So it’s not like one medium is absolutely more personal than another. It is, ultimately, what you make of it.

Honesty

2009-09-09T16:32:12Z

Just after 11pm yesterday, I was at the Esso station along River Valley Road. I had just used the cash machine inside the station and was walking back to my car, which had been refuelled.

Behind me, I heard a small commotion. The cashier was running after a male customer, asking him if he had dropped his credit card. I looked inside my own handbag to make sure I hadn’t lost anything. The male customer looked at the card and said it wasn’t his. He then came over to me to ask if it was my card. I looked at the name. No wonder - a female name was listed on the card. I told the man that it wasn’t my card. He then passed it to a pump attendant.

I then noticed that another customer’s car was just driving off. I gestured to the attendant, suggesting that maybe the card belonged to one of the passengers in that car. He dashed off but couldn’t catch up with the car as it went back onto the main road. I tried waving to the driver but he didn’t see me. Fortunately, the car stopped at the nearest traffic light and the attendant eventually reached the car.

I didn’t manage to see if there was a happy ending as I was already back in my own car, about to drive off. However I thought that everybody was quite honourable and went out of their way to look for the person who had lost her card.

I say kudos to those working at the pump for going out of their way to help a customer.

Running, not walking

2009-09-02T16:45:41Z

A quick post to let my faithful blog readers know that I am still alive.

I hit the ground running at work, researching and then presenting a new framework to senior management, writing speeches and MC’ing a launch event. I would like to thank my colleagues for the positive feedback on my performance and appearance. It was a big learning experience and I shall continue to learn and improve.

Feedback - about other issues - is what I’ve been getting a lot of, actually. I will continue to listen, and if I am in a position to suggest improvements, I will. Thank you once again and keep the ideas flowing.

Apart from work, I am busy preparing for my favourite cousin’s wedding. I will be playing the wedding march and 2 hymns. The problem is, the rest of the band isn’t able to meet until 2 days before the wedding (one of the musicians isn’t even in Singapore). So we are going to practice virtually and trust in each others’ abilities!

I am also involved in another rehearsal - but shall leave that as a surprise till the last week of this month.

I am still on track to hitting my ideal weight. All the pairs of pants I bought just before leaving for France are loose. I’ve got some clothes resized, and will soon be sending a second batch to the tailor’s otherwise I won’t have anything decent left to wear. And if anyone else asks me if I went to a slimming centre, the answer is no! It is solely due to a much healthier diet and exercise. I work for HPB, you know!

You’ll probably get more frequent updates from me via Twitter, so head over there and subscribe to my tweets.

T-shirts for Strategic Planners

2009-08-19T14:33:34Z

I have a Cafepress.com shop. Sometimes I design things for fun to see how they look on T-shirts, mugs, baby clothes and other items. The only notable item I’ve had up to now was the “Thinking Cap” which I designed in honour of my Gahmen Blogger co-founder, Ivan Chew, aka Rambling Librarian. It’s punny but makes a statement. And it sells.

Since moving on to a new role, I thought that those of us in Strategic Planning might like to have a T-shirt that told the world what kind of work we do. So I uploaded another simple T-shirt design for men, and one for ladies.

And what do you know… Within a couple of weeks, I’ve made myself a sale!

View the rest of my wares at my Cafepress shop.