Kiki’s Korner

TRY AND DO EVERYTHING BETTER.

That’s it.

Wishing to expand my reading selection in the coming year, I posted a request on Twitter for some book recommendations…my pals on Twitter delivered a nice diverse list:

• @lgpiper: Anything by Haruki Murakami. Try “Wind up Bird Chronicle” or “Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World”

• @jamesglave: my new book “Almost Green” | prologue at glave.com and excerpt on salon.com at http://tinyurl.com/6koabk

• @tgruber: The Attack by Yasmina Khadra

• @kibitzer: I also highly recommend The Crow Road by Iain Banks. And Espedair Street by the same author.

• @kibitzer: It’s geek-heavy, but one of the 10 best I’ve ever read is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

• @susananthony: I have 2 books to recommend: A Story of a Marriage; The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

• @missleah26: If you have a craving for teen romances, might I suggest Twilight? They’re addicting

• @samirb: if you want a great read on wine, billionaires vinegar, its about fake bottles that Thomas Jefferson once owned.

• @gtcaz: Middlesex. There are some great audio books available as well, if you’re into that.

• @sjetha: Got Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture book?

• @jeremymeyers: if you haven’t already read “sex drugs and cocoa puffs” by chuck klosterman, its a great read

• @clgoodman: I loved “The Keep”

• @jeremymeyers: one book you should read: Rip It Up And Start Again, history of Post-Punk. super fascinating.

• @joeld: The Best of James Herriot. By, well, James Herriot.

• @mlambert: book recommendation: fargo rock city

• @jmartindf: The Forgotten Man, by Amity Shlaes

• @andrewbarnett: Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood

• @kellysims: The Road. Moved me more than any book I’ve read in years. Heavy material, but really worth it.

• @curiosidad: I just read Outliers from Gladwell.

• @kyeung808: I’d recommend “Marley and Me“, “Widsom of my Fathers” (Tim Russert), or “Big Russ and Me” (Tim Russert)

• @Ninety7: The Archer’s Tale – Bernard Cornwell

• @DaveSandell: “Blankets” by Craig Thompson

I also received a couple of direct messages via Twitter, recommending World Wide Rave (advance copy) from David Meerman Scott, audiobooks of All the Kings Men and The Great Gatsby, and Peter Block’s Community: The Structure of Belonging.

After sorting through this list, I decided I am going to start with the following (in order):

• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I plan to read at least one book per month and then post my reviews once done. Of course, hoping there are some months I can commit to more, but know better than to put too much pressure on myself based on what else is currently on my plate so the one book per month is a good starting point I think.

…your doctor states you are ‘now in the age group where mammograms are highly recommended.’ ::le sigh::

The process itself is simple enough – go into a cold room wearing nothing but a sheet, place your boobs on a cold plate, apply lots of pressure to said boobs, then hold breathe, scan, let breathe out, put clothes on, leave.

The pressure machine:

The full set of my little adventure can be found on Flickr, and I even shot a couple of videos…

One before going in:

One coming out:

Nothing too exciting, but I thought important to document the process as I read about women who don’t get these tests done out of fear of the process. Please do not wait. If you have a history of breast cancer in your family or are over the age of 40 – see your doctor and get the mammogram* done now.

* Thought for next time – when I tweeted I was going in for this test, someone recommend I check out Breast Thermography as an alternative to the mammogram. I need to do some more research on this, but I am all for limiting the amount of zaps my body takes in this lifetime.

UPDATE 12/22/08: Got a call from Kaiser today who asked me to come back in for a second screening as my xray was not clear enough for the doctor to give me a green light. Not sweating it right now – seems girls who have a little more in the boobage department sometimes have this happen as there is a lot of fatty tissue and they have no prior tests to compare against. So I am scheduled to go back in mid January – so wish me luck!

…and 10 times out of 10, like most women I know, there is a baby in the vicinity when it happens.

This past week Heuer and I got a chance to spend a little time in New York, where we bonded with some fellow SMCers, loved on friends and spent some time with ‘family’ – namely, my dear friend Jenn, her husband and her beautiful baby boy, CJ.

Most days I can’t imagine trying to have a family with the crazy/busy life Heuer and I lead. Then again, most days I can’t imagine NOT trying to have a family. Of course the odds are against me – I am an old bitty and I am way, way, way overweight. Two things that factor ‘negative’ into the mix. Now, I am not stressing over it as Heuer and I have always said if it happens it happens. No bullshit here. Not trying to prevent pregnancy, but not trying to plant a seed either. We live our lives happily and be happy with the lives we have.

In the meantime, it simply means I get to gush over other people’s babies – spoiling them rotten and then giving them back to their parents to handle. And that CJ, man – he is a cutey patootie. I shall be spoiling that kid for years to come…

It should come as no surprise that I am a social girl.

I run in a very social circle.

There are events and parties going on almost every single day of the week here in the Bay Area. This atmosphere absolutely feeds our need to have face:face contact with our peers and loved ones. This atmosphere also creates an environment where people will go out, even when sick, as there is a sense that we don’t wish to miss *anything*.

Heuer has written about this several times, and as I sit here on my couch, wrapped up in a sweatshirt and sucking down Zicam every three hours, I wish to bring it up…again.

Please folks…if you are not feeling well…do your friends, your family members and your co-workers a favor. Stay home. Get healthy. THEN come out.

I know it is hard, but it is your duty as a good citizen to make these sacrifices.

I joked about some of the folks battling colds right now that I came into contact with at our party on Friday night, but in all seriousness…please keep your community in mind and do what is right when you are sick. Stay home.

And now, because someone did not stay home – I have snot oozing out of my head, heaviness in my chest and have had to bag off two industry events and a meeting this week, and look to be missing two parties, one of them a birthday, in two days unless I get this through my system.

I know it sucks missing out on things, but it is not fair that you come out when there is a possibility you are contagious.

I am always glad to see you, spend time with you, share with you. Just keep your germs to yourself. Please.

It is crazy to think it has only been two weeks since my last day of work at Joyent, and the support and outreach I have received from the community around me can be described by one simple word: Incredible.

Thank you.

The time has flown by; filled with phone calls, emails, text messages and meetings – all focused on opportunities being presented to me from people who respect the work I do, and wish to see me succeed.

Thank you.

The challenge for me now is figuring out what I want to do. It is an important question to ask oneself, and surprisingly, a question I am finding harder to answer than I thought. An easier thing for me to nail down is I know what I do not wish to do, and I know the environment I do not wish to work within so I am sure the what I want to do will come out of that.

So I am taking a little time to breathe, to soak it in, as that will ensure the next role I jump into is the right role…for me. All I know is I am happier than I have been in a long time…and I have the community of people around me to thank for that.

Thank you.

Yes folks, I am back on the market. Start the bidding process now.

I have met some really wonderful people, both online and offline, over the last 15 months at Joyent, and I am happy with the role I played in pushing the company forward to where they are today. It feels good to know I was instrumental in making some needed improvements in many of the customer facing aspects of the business. This included setting processes and guidelines in the Customer Care department, launching new outbound communication programs to better inform our customers, organizing local meetups, managing promotional programs, handling our event sponsorships, representing the voice of the customer in company meetings and most of all – ensuring we did a better job of looking after our customer’s needs.

I am thankful for the offerings of love and support I have received from the community and would like to send a big ‘thank you’ to Adam, Ed, Nick, Mickael, Garrick, Larry, Dustin, Kelly, Andrew, Matt, Linda, Walter, Christopher, Allan, Jacques, Noel, Ken, Michael, Elle, AJ, Mark, Jim, Tom, Trevor, Eugene, Robert, J.J., Tim, Jamie, Elliot, Jim, Tiffany, Kris, Eric, Michael, Jordan, Sid, Arthur, Joe, Tom, Thomas, Jamie, Joel, Ray, Jim, Ngungo, Kjell, Sebastian, Adrian, Philip, David, Jeremy, Robert, Arthur, Tim, someguy, David, Chris, Chuck, pet, MrDale, and Heuer – for your love and support through this, which was both planned and unplanned all at the same time. Thank you folks, you rock.

I would like to extend an even deeper thank you to a handful of my Joyeurs – Matt, Peter, Geoff, Noel, Peat, Eric, and Eugene – for going the extra step and offering up a recommendation for me on LinkedIn. That is awesome – nothing says ‘job well done’ better than your customers giving you some love during a time like this. Thank you thank you thank you.

For the record, I am unemployed. I need a job. What am I looking for? I would love to work for a company that respects and values its customers. My ideal role would enable me to serve as a Customer Advocate, Community Wrangler, Connector, Communicator, Social Media Maven, and/or Event Planner. I like diversity in my daily work, but really need a consistent ability to help people, especially customers.

And to my @joyeurs, my clan. Shall you find yourself in San Francisco, or if I happen to be in your town, I shall look forward to raising a pint with you, so let’s make sure we keep in touch.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”