The Class Itself

AJ turned two at Christmas and so we put her into the eagerly awaited gymnastics class for two year olds. Eagerly awaited by her parents, that is. This is a child who climbs up the side of the slide, swings gleefully on the bar up top, zooms down, and gets up with hardly a whimper from a face plant.

Gymnastics.

Or, in this case, obstacle course.

Ricochets Gymnastics has a kids room with smaller equipment and bright colors in addition to their full-size gymnasium for training older girls to compete. For the 2-year-olds they turn it into an obstacle course to run through during the class.

AJ was utterly thrilled by the neat stuff and started playing immediately. But then it was time for the "hello" song around the parachute. This was supposed to involve clapping and jumping and freezing and touching toes and such in unison.

Nope. This was parent exercise time as my husband and I took turns chasing AJ and bring her back, since she kept escaping to go play on the equipment.

Then the course started. This is what they did...

• walked across balance beams (trying not to step on stuffed frogs)
• traveled through and over cushions before landing in a ball pit
• rolled down a ramp and running across a path with more cushions
• climbed a small wall and sliding down the other side
• swung on bars (like the uneven bars)
• crawled through a tunnel underneath a raised platform
• dashed up the stairs and jumped in place on a trampoline
• ran up a little ramp, swung on a bar, and plopped into a pit full of foam blocks
• struggled through the foam blocks to get over to the slide
• slid down in a spiral and went back to the beginning.

AJ made it through 2 1/2 times (the trampoline/swinging/foam slide part was so fun it was done twice in a row before we corralled her back to the beginning) with us spotting her and chasing her when she got distracted.

There were six kids in the class and they were supposed to stand on a star on the floor and "freeze" at various point during the course, mostly when they had to wait their turns. Mine didn't do that. Well, by the end, with encouragement, she started putting her hands up in the "freeze" position and pausing for a fraction of a nanosecond. So it was a start.

Then there was the "byebye" song. More escaping. Although a little participation this time.

As we stumbled out to our car we asked her what her favorite part was. "Jumping" And did she want to go back next week. "Uh-huh" with vigorous up and down head shaking.

Whew.

It's not a cheap activity but I think it's worth the money. For one thing, she had a lot of fun. But she's also going to get some practice in doing things at the right time and waiting her turn. And she will learn how to control her body a bit more when she charges ahead, which will hopefully keep her a little bit safer. Which was rather the point in the first place.

The Morning After

My daughter normally wakes up between 6:15 and 6:45. Friday morning we were dragging her out of bed at 7:15. She didn't open her eyes until she had her juice cup (think COFFEE!! for toddlers) in her hand five minutes later.

I think we finally found a way to wear her out.

It was an interesting process. The first time I went to do it I backed off because the questionnaire seemed so daunting. A month or so later I took the plunge. The initial concepts were delivered quickly and I was able to pick and request revisions. The follow-up was great. I was very happy with the entire experience, both how it was set up and the results at each step.

This one is pretty simple, but that's what I needed, just something that I could use for a button on a website and branding when I started doing documents or slideshare or youtube. 

But this one I absolutely LOVE. One of the questions they ask is if you have any ideas. I mentioned two graphical concepts that had occurred to me that I felt would be too complicated for them to want to do, but I gave as ideas. And they worked this one up for me. I asked for the elephant as a separate file as well and they were gracious enough to give it to me for no extra charge.

Now I just need to figure out exactly how I'm going to USE them in the designs of their respective websites so that it connects with me using them elsewhere.

But they aren't blogs where I'm "me". I'm not trying to craft posts for them. Actually, neither contains any original writing at all, favoring free articles or ones that I purchased the rights to distribute.

I consider them more as magazines. I'm the editor, deciding what is worth including and bringing it together in an appealing and useful way.

Everyday Green Kitchens

Everyday Green Kitchens focuses on going green in the heart of the home. "Going green" is such a big topic that a focused entry point seems like a good idea.

Recycling Everywhere

Recycling Everywhere pulls together a stream of recyling topics from different perspectives, with an intent to provide good information at a reasonable pace.

History of the Idea

These blogs originally grew out of my forays into niche internet marketing. I tried a site here for desperate buyers and one there for making affiliate commissions from Clickbank products, but I kept getting frustrated.

They weren't making me money and I didn't care about the topics. Even worse, I didn't want anyone to know I was associated with them, not as part of my professional identity anyway. I know that's not unusual, but it still bothered me.

I tried setting up some blogs that were more anonymous and would feed traffic into more personal blogs, but they seemed to be distracting me from my purpose.

I finally hit on the idea of a human curated article collection and then realized that in many ways that was what a magazine was and I could be the publisher and the editor.

I could use appropriate articles from article directories and still provide a service and add value by filtering the information.

I could use material that I'd purchased the private label rights to and not be claiming that I wrote it when someone might search and see it elsewhere under other names.

I could set up pen names as my assistant editors and brand their work, eventually setting up ghostwriters and personal assistants behind them, but not me, to support the publications.

I actually had a couple domains ready to go under other, unrelated, themes, but realized that was distracting me as well. So now I'm focused on green topics - which meshes nicely with my interest in sustainability as a meta-concept that is an often discussed application of systems thinking and a concern for the manufacturing industry.

The Future of Unnamed Publishing

I have a handful of other green themed sub-topics I'd like to build magazine blogs around, and one in particular I'd love to start now. Especially since two seems a lonely number for a venture. Three is more satisfying somehow...

And then the overall venture would need a name...

However, I think I'll be better getting more things flying evenly and consistently first, instead of the careening around between projects I've been doing lately. So I'm determined to wait until I'm posting regularly on my blogs, magazines, and have an actual portfolio of copywriting samples.

Either that or when I have enough revenue to pay someone to do the work for me...

Types of Potentially Green Flooring

Exotic hardwood flooring companies were explaining how they were responsible, only harvesting already fallen trees.

Engineered hardwood floors, which are something like plywood, let the manufacturers create four times as many planks from each tree than you can be made if you use solid boards.

Bamboo flooring talks about how the bamboo grows quickly, and is therefore more renewable than trees, but there can be issues with how it is harvested and processed.

One innovative company was selling "Woodboo," which seemed a truly silly name, but used bamboo for the under portions of the engineered plank and real wood for only the top layer.

Many of the vinyl and linoleum flooring pieces contained substantial amounts of recycled content.

Some of the adhesives made to glue down these floors are VOC free or solvent free. Some of the coatings and treatments are likewise greener than they were previously.

Ceramic tile is made from, well, dirt, which is common, but only a few companies have figured out how to recycle it.

Vinyl tiles and sheets can be made to contain significant amounts of recycled content.

Some brands of nylon-based carpet have received cradle to cradle certifications and are completely recycled - gathered at the waste end, broken down into their chemical components, and made into new fibers and carpets at the other ends.

Support for Sustainability

The show sponsors were also supporting the concept of going green by having one of the four free speaking platforms on the show floor be themed for sustainability.

I listened to two of the presentations, one on Selling Sustainability to Customers by David Wilkerson of Shaw Industries and one on How Retailers can Incorporate Sustainability into their Businesses by Jenny Cross of Mohawk.

One really amazing point was that while roughly 10% of your customers will always buy green and 10% will never buy green, the other 80% are interested in green if you mention it to them and can present it alongside the usual characteristics of design, quality, and value. This is especially true if you can tie support for the environment to their own happiness and that of their families.

Boa Steakhouse

Imagine a darker space with a buzz of noise that still seemed to have a quiet modern feel due to the high ceilings and decorative touches. Between the rounded booths and tables are bare trees reminiscent of driftwood rooted in lighted boxes with glass chips.

This was Boa, a steak house in the Forum Shoppes at Caesar's Palace and Wednesday's dinner location.

I chose the evening's special - Filet Oscar, for my entree. I've had this dish at various restaurants before - it's crab meat on top of filet mignon with a bearnaise sauce served with asparagus. This variation was the best of those that I remember.

The steak was tangy and well-flavored and cooked perfectly. The crab added another complementary taste and the jumbo asparagus spears were just the right amount of done. The accompanying rolls were delicious and didn't really need any butter because they were done enough enough to be crumbly on the outside while still being richly soft on the inside.

I finished up with a sorbet platter, which I especially liked because of the plating. Instead of offering you a choice, they bring out one plate with three ball scoops, each with a different flavor. Each scoop is resting on its own winglike cracker and the whole thing is arranged in a circle with a touch of fruit.

Osteria del Circo

Now think of what you might do if you were told to make a circus themed decor for an elegant restaurant. I probably would have drawn a blank or tried to build on Cirque du Soleil. Instead there were drapes of gold and red, understated triangles and stripes, and other touches that brought to mind an old-time big top.

Off to one side of the table a metal monkey on a ball rolled along wires from time to time and in another direction was a fantastic bronzed mobile, spinning so we could see the three performers, as if they were dropping in from the trapeze.

This was Circo, an Italian restaurant inside the Bellagio. And the very best part of the decor was the large windows directly facing the fountain, so I was able to see portions of the water show multiple times during Thursday's meal.

I misjudged my ordering here. I picked a mushroom soup with marinated lobster as my appetizer. The lobster was great but the soup wasn't creamy or brothy but something kind of gritty in the middle and I didn't finish it. My colleague who ordered the same thought it was quite good, but I guess I didn't quite care for the texture.

I'd like to make one quick detour into the restroom between courses. I opened the door and was awash in blue and green. It was a fantastic use of subtly varying tile that made me feel like I was stepping in a cool pool. A nice touch was that there were rolled cloths for drying your hands instead of paper towels and a basket to toss the used ones into. Plus, when I returned to my table the cloth napkin I'd left on my seat was refolded and on the table in front of me. Classy.

As my entree I had a delicious veal and mushroom ravioli that was just the right balance between the heaviness of pasta and a lighter taste. Bits of mushroom and scraps of veal were mixed in among the green and cream raviolis, all topped with shavings of parmesan cheese.

Tonight's sorbet was raspberry in a very generous helping. It was creamy enough that it was almost ice cream and I polished it off. I was full enough that I needed to make an extra round of the shops after returning to the hotel because there wasn't enough of a walking distance between the two.

Planet Hollywood

Ugly decor.

Okay, I should be generous to other tastes and say the decor of the hotel at the Planet Hollywood casino was very op and modern and just not to my own taste. But I think I'll settle for ugly and dark.

The color combinations were muddy and the patterns more distracting than appealing. For example, when I first got in my room I thought there was a lot of black in it coupled with some light brown. It was only the next day in full sunlight that I could see it was a deep purple and a rich gold. Which still only sort of worked.

There was very little light in the rooms. I was straining to read by the dinky bulb they put in the bedside light, even with the tall lamp elsewhere in the room on as well. Blessedly the desk lamp was bright for when I spent time on the computer, but that was it.

I'm sure it was more luxuriously appointed than the older casinos, but I wouldn't have expected as much of them. When I was in Vegas in 2006 I stayed in the Paris and saw the Venetian and those were beautiful. Part of that is I liked the style, but I've seen good modern too, and this really wasn't it.

One major plus was the large bathroom which came complete with soaking tub and separate shower. My feet really appreciated the tub after walking around conventions all day. Here the wallpaper was lighter, with circles and squares in beige and metallic gold layered over cream. I liked the effect because the squares in gold would show up more or less depending on the angle that you looked at them.

And I need to leave kudos for the concierge. The same gentleman recommended both the Boa and the Circo when we just mentioned we were thinking of steak the one night and Italian the other night and wanted to step away from the hotel for the meal. I was very satisfied.

Surfaces

The primary reason I was traveling was to support a new product launch at Surfaces - a show for all the things that you can put down to decorate and cover a floor, either in a home or business setting.

There were manufacturers of carpet, hardwood floor, vinyl, and tile. Then there were the related companies, like the adhesives needed to lay these materials down (that's us), radiant floor heating systems, carpet cleaners and sealers, and companies selling software for better estimating and managing installation jobs, among other various sundry things.

We had a respectably sized booth with a key featured area promoting the new product that I'm the primary product development chemist on. It's an adhesive intended to lay down a hardwood floor on a concrete slab in one day, instead of needing to put down a moisture vapor retarder or acoustical underlayment first and then glue down the wood. And I believe it's better than what our competitors have out there. Which was the point of designing it.

The display was getting attention, partly because of the odd appearance of the rubber particles within the glue. An unexpected feature that's essentially the first claim in the patent application we submitted. (I'm pretty excited about that one. When the claim goes all the way through it will be my first patent.) The guys at the plant called it cookies and cream and our marcom head who set up the event bought some great LARGE dalmation stuffed animals to set around the booth for a bit of humor. I cracked up when she first pulled them out of their boxes, at least.

I really enjoyed getting to talk to some of our customers, although I wasn't the primary contact - that was one of the salesmen manning the booth. I helped with presenting the benefits and features alongside and I was able to listen first hand to what actually mattered to them. It's good to be able to get out of the lab and experience how we must be, in the end, a customer focused company.

Part of the show experience is walking it - getting to see what everyone else is doing. I visited our competitors, and saw much that was familiar and one or two things that were new. I marveled at the glass tiles (so beautiful) and enjoyed the different woods and paid attention to who was doing what. Some of my colleagues were also looking for new contacts for the salesmen to call on with some of our other new products.

In a way the show is also just a setting for get-togethers. I rarely meet many of our sales people and only get to see the marketing folks a few times a year, since we're geographically dispersed. It's nice to put faces to names, even if I'm pretty sure I won't recognize them next time we meet, and connect when there's not a specific task to accomplish. And then there's meals - in this case with my fellow R&D folk, but discussions that range wider than a typical day. I learned a couple of really interesting bits of history this time around, too.

There was a lot of "green" at the show, which I paid close attention to, but I'll fit that into another post.

World of Concrete

I also visited the World of Concrete, where we had another, smaller, booth. One of my colleagues and I walked the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center with a bit of diligence and made some good contacts. I got to chat with a supplier I hadn't seen in person for over a year, although we'd been doing some business over email. That was pretty useful.

One thing that particularly caught my eye was the stamped concrete. I'd seen the technique used on Curb Appeal on HGTV one time a couple months ago but hadn't realized how sophisticated it could get. Some of those colors and finishs were dramatically different. I could easily see how they would be appropriate in all sorts of environments. The brick and the cobblestone versions, for example, had to be cheaper than the doing the actual work instead of just going for the effect and in some places would work great.

I kind of wondered why none of them had gone to the Surfaces show. Maybe because they're not going to be accessed through the same outlets? But one of the audiences of Surfaces is designers, and you'd think the stamped concrete folks would want to get in front of them.

Out of the South Hall there was that many booths another four times over, including outdoor demo areas. That convention center is HUGE. There was very little of direct use to me elsewhere but there were large pieces of equipment and very dramatic displays both inside and out. I can definitely see why they've drawn a social media following.

They tell the story very well on the intro page of Inside the Third Tribe. (NOT an affiliate link, btw)

All the discussions going on are intense and amazing. It might be just the start-up phase but I've already had something of a mindshift, being around people who are deliberately thinking this way. I was especially influenced by the first seminar, which was Sonia Simone talking with Johnny Truant.

It was just one line that wasn't even the point of the discussion. What he makes money doing is not what he is writing about.

Separating Services from Content

Somehow this sparked a chain of thoughts that ended with the decision to remove my copywriting services from Leading with Content and put them here. Leading with Content would then become a site dedicated to helping manufacturing and chemical companies use content marketing.

I feel kind of silly saying this, because that's what it was before. But it was that with the intention of providing a platform to attract potential customers. In my mind I felt like I needed to be the expert who was justifying the professional B2B fees that I've seen in the industry benchmarks.

But I wasn't. And that dichotomy was killing me.

I have a lot of faith in my ability, and a good chunk of both business and copywriting education, but no portfolio, no sales experience, and no clients.

I need to be casting my net on Elance and in a lower price range to stretch my wings and get little wins before I get big ones. (Yes, I know there are people who say I don't need to and I can make a plan to just go big, but small steps have worked better for me in the past.)

Now I can do that without contradicting myself.

And my opinions on content marketing and knowledge of the manufacturing industry outside of my little corner of it will grow.

And my abilities and proof of them will grow.

And one day I'll turn around and step by step I will have grown into my specialty and be connected to people who might find my services worthwhile - either as a freelancer or as a portion of a corporate postion.

Consolidating Thoughts while Disregarding Opportunities

Despite previous disclaimers about starting a marketing blog, I did try. And stopped. I also tried to start a green materials themed blog. And stopped.

Somehow the seminar also helped me realize that I could just pull it all in and be me here. Yes, that's why I built this blog. But I'd gotten caught up in thinking about opportunities to make money instead of thinking about how not everything needed to try to be a business. Some of it was just about writing what I loved. Some of it was just about talking to other people that way.

And maybe they won't care about what I do. And that's okay.

And maybe a few will.

I'd really describe this one as a twisting political thriller, although the title makes you think action, that is set in an unusual fantasy world where the details really matter to the plot.

The Accidental Sorcerer by K. E. Mills

When this novel started I felt a bit like I was in Harry Potter's world, except looking at what a wizard who wasn't so good at it did when he grew up. The story, though, was about a man who was changing and the messes he got himself into and out of. I liked it enough that I intend to read the next two in the trilogy.

Women for Hire's Get-Ahead Guide to Career Success by Tory Johnson and Robyn Freedman Spizman

I suppose it was a good manual for someone who hasn't read anything in the genre before, but I was hoping for something with a little more punch. On the other hand, I did like the little real-life story boxes scattered throughout the text.

Lean Thinking by James Womack and Daniel Jones

This book took me a ridiculously long time to push through, especially considering that it didn't even all sink in. But it's important enough that I'm going to buy the updated edition and read it again, passing on the first version that I picked up at the used bookstore for 50 cents.

Cake Wrecks by Jen Yates

My husband found the blog some time ago and has fun showing me the worst ones, so I don't subscribe, just so he can point them out. The book was a great collection and I enjoyed reading the story behind the story.

Small Giants by Bo Burlingham

This was a very appealing book to me because of the basic concept - that there are ways to be a successful company other than just growing larger. I felt it left me with a good grasp of how it could work, and has worked for others, and what the tradeoffs might be. A lot of it had to do with community, both inside and outside the company. If there are manufacturing companies like this out there, then they are the ones that I'd ideally like to do content marketing projects for.

Connected Wisdom by Linda Booth Sweeney

I was truly enthralled by the idea behind this book but kept getting distracted by the format once it actually arrived. It's very large, though not very thick, with some large colored illustrations. I think it's supposed to give the feel of a children's picture book but the colors and feel are kind of off somehow for that. I would have preferred a more traditional size or simply black and white.

Aside from that distraction, it was interesting to see some of the international fairy tales connected to the ideas of systems thinking, but it didn't live up to my expectations. Perhaps they were unrealistic to begin with.

Mastering the Complex Sale by Jeff Thull

This book really impressed me. I could see how many of the concepts interacted with complex sales I'd personally experienced. I need to go over it again with a fine-tooth comb - see comment below.

Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg

What wonderfully delightful laws to remember and so many of them applied simply to doing work with other departments. I especially like the idea of not swooping in to save the day, because then the current people in the position have to admit that they were wrong. Instead approach it as how you can make things better. Nearly everyone can get behind better.

Peter and Max by Bill Willingham

It's set in the same world as a comic book series I read called Fables, one which ties the world of fairy tales to our own in odd ways. Max Piper is the Pied Piper of legend, Peter Piper of the pumpkin shell and pickled peppers is his brother, the hero of our story, who marries Bo Peep.

The story moves back and forth in time and you don't need to have read the comics to understand it. The characters deepen as you go and I truly wasn't expecting the ending, as fitting as it was.

eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale by Ardath Albee

It was illuminating to read this different approach to the idea of online content marketing, which was essentially what it boils down to, although the term is rarely used. I especially appreciated the discussions of hand-offs and interactions in the selling company. Mostly, I need to go over it again.

I've got Lead Generation for the Complex sale on order and when I've read that one I hope to go over all three "complex sale" books, process the info, relate it to content marketing, and otherwise make sure I actually understand and can apply or give advice on what I've been reading.

No B.S. Sales Success by Dan Kennedy

I'd never read Dan Kennedy before, although I'd heard the name. It's hard to escape it in the world of copywriting. Somehow I'd gotten the impression that he'd be smarmy but effective. Yet this book didn't feel that way at all. It was very practical and will be a reference to apply when I'm actually in or planning a sales situation.

On the Nightstand:

Switch, Ottoman Embroidery

Best Fiction Book

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen by Seth Grahame-Smith

I delighted in Jane's original version when I first read it, but the zombie mayhem that Seth added in was just fantastic. It was so much fun to see things twist and turn and to give Elizabeth even more spunk.

Best Book for Writers

Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale

It just caught my attention more than the books about the business end, as useful as those were. I liked concentrating on the sound and structure of the words and sentences for awhile.

Best Book for Marketers

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

No, it's not new. But it's still striking and it's still worth a reread and from a marketing point of view, the goal of marketing via producing great and valuable content is kind of an assumption behind this book.

Best Book for Innovators

Borrowing Brilliance by David Kord Murray

I read some other valuable books about thinking, and there's a lot to be gained from such books as The Necessary Revolution and Thinking in Systems, but neither is really one of my top five books of the year, although the latter is definitely in the top 10. This one resonated deeper. It's about building as much as borrowing.

Just Read It

Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod

This isn't just about enhancing your creativity, although that's what it's supposed to be about. It's also about living in a way that is true to yourself. And it's stuffed with some pretty funny cartoons, too.

Your Recommendations

Is there a book from 2009 that really stood out in your mind that you'd like to suggest back to me?

Sometimes you get a yen to reread something you've loved. I have all of the books in Lackey's Valdemar universe and I pulled out these three with Tarma and Kethry to reread. I love Lackey's comments in Oathblood about how these stories originally grew from a desire to do something different - to present women in fantasy that were neither trying to be men nor oversexed nor interested in each other.

Brightly Burning, Exile's  Honor, Exile's Valor by Mercedes Lackey

Okay, I guess my Valdemar rereading kick isn't over yet. I'd only read Brightly Burning once before so I thought I'd try it again. It's one of her weaker books, standing alone in time. The two Honor books, though, are the fascinating story of Alberich and reveal a great deal of the intrigue and background to her primary timeline while being good books in and of themselves.

Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese

A social and scientific look at the different aspects of coal over the years. It was illuminating and helpful to me as background. The stories were told well and flowed nicely. It wasn't as deeply intertwined as some other similar books I've read, but that made it a little easier to read.

Rethinking the Fifth Discipline by Robert Flood

This book left me gasping for air. It was readable, but I was having a hard time really grasping the concepts. I'm thinking I won't get them until I write about them but am debating whether I should do that first or read a different book I have about the different types of systems thinking first.

The Monk and the Riddle by Randy Komisar

The message of the fable is still valid - for success as an entrepreneur you need to be doing what you want to be doing now, not putting what you want off until later. Passion in something new is what captures investors. The story feels a little dated, though, since it's setting is Silicon Valley, published in 2000. I enjoyed it and sped through it.

Art Revolution by Lisa Cyr

This was a fascinating book, looking at why artists are integrating digital media into their mixed-media art work. There was a little bit of how, which was a nice touch, but it's more of a thinking, inspirational type of book.

Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson

The Results Oriented Work Environment sounds fantastic. I'm lucky enough to work in a place that's more oriented on core hours and letting people know if you're out, so I'm not as restricted as the guy worrying that his fourth day 15 minutes late makes him an awful employee in danger of getting fired. But the ideas still resonate. This was a fast read and only a start to a huge culture change if a company decides to make it happen.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Not what I expected. Much better. A glimpse into something that our minds our primed for that sometimes serves us well and sometimes serves us poorly. I blogged about these first impressions over on Inventing Elephants.

ArchEnemy by Frank Beddor

A fitting conclusion to the Looking Glass Wars trilogy. Some of the key ideas wrapped around again and all was satisfactorily resolved.

Never Cold Call Again Online Playbook by Frank Rumbauskas Jr.

I didn't really learn anything here, but it was a great summary of internet marketing techniques for someone who wasn't familiar with them.

Secrets of a Freelance Writer by Bob Bly

I've picked up most of this information elsewhere, some from other things Bob Bly has online through AWAI. But it was a great way to pull it all together. It would be interesting to sit down and compare it directly to the Well-Fed Writer and see if I could make a recommendation on which to start with. In some ways they cover the same information.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming by Christopher C. Horner

I picked this one up at a used book store for the opportunity of seeing another point of view. He had some very interesting points about interpreting data and effectively uses things that the prevailing view has actually said but not emphasized.

I feel very ill-qualified to discuss the topic of global warming intelligently after reading the book because I realize how complicated things can get. And it makes me wonder what data HE might have left out that would have weakened his argument. Was he doing the same thing he claims the environmentalists are doing?

The most interesting thing about this book was the tone. It was sarcastic and almost scornful in places, potentially truthful, but in a way that deliberately disparaged the point of view of the other side. It was appropriate for the format, but felt odd to me to see it in a book instead of a column or blog post.

I'm now curious about the rest of the Politically Incorrect Guide series and what kind of questions they would spark in my mind and what they could teach me about evaluating the prevailing view - and then the contrary view itself.

The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan by George Bradt, Jayme Check, and Jorge Pedraza

There were some really interesting ideas in here - like starting your relationship building and work before your first day actually begins. A lot of the value is in going through the worksheets for a particular step and I only skimmed them. I'm keeping this on my bookshelf for the day I get to move into a product management position. They don't tend to have direct reports but they are expected to be leaders.

Sesame Street: A Celebration of 40 Years of Life on the Street by Louise A. Gikow

Such a huge and beautiful book. I loved the insider stories and behind the scene pictures.

Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene, translated by Sarah Adams

This was a young adult book in first person with a very distinctive voice. I'd picked it up used because it was a bit about the boundaries between cultures and a bit about change. It fulfilled my expectations.

On the Nightstand:

Lean Thinking, Ill-met at the Arena, Mastering the Complex Sale