Kgott’s Neighborhood

Today we wandered over to the soccer fields at Evergreen where I went to college. Here the girls watch Evergreen's womens and mens team practice ahead of this weekend's big matchup where the men play Canadian national champions, UBC. Go Geoducks go!

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Why did these take so long to be invented?

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In Austin, TX

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1 comment

Well it's been a wild summer.  I realized what I crave most alongside bike racing and quality time with family is just relaxing and reading. So I've become one of Amazon's better customers. I buy books easily and I read them in various states at any given time.

There's not exactly tons of time and right now I'm listening to the Democratic Convention and writing on ths blog. Not reading these books I bought from Amazon. I must be the perfect customer.

Joking aside though, I have learned a lot from these and other books I've read over the last several months. In the land of Twitter, Facebook and 30 second attack ads, books offer some refuge for thinking, learning, and growing.

Anyhow below is a mostly complete list of the latest books on my shelf.

Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

John Carlin

Mandela. Imprisoned for 27 years. Released. Becomes president. Civil war looming. What does he do?

He reaches out. Like nobody could have imagined.

It all came together in the 1995 Rugby world cup won by South Africa.

Mandela! No one comes close.

The Manchurian Candidate

Richard Condon

Forget the remade movie. This is the novel that started it all. Creepy!

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

Dan Roam

Remember the Laffer curve? It was supposedly written on the back of the napkin and went onto underpin the economic philosophy of the 1980s.

Okay, that dates me I know.

Seriously though, communicating ideas visually in a small space works if done right. And you have something to say:) This book can help with the first goal.

Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter)

Garr Reynolds

This is a nice looking book, full of nice pictures that you might put in presentations. Not sure how relevant this really is in my world.

But I will say that the "wall of words" approach to PowerPoint does not work.

Lately, I think it's better to just have some bullets on a slide and then have some good talking points for each one. No need for fancy pictures.

I know this is not exactly revolutionary thinking:) But still, it's worth repeating.

Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life

Alan Deutschman

Here's a book still sitting on my shelf. I ordered it because of the funny title. I suppose it's true. Evolution dictates that you change or die. I guess I'm going to pick this one up and see if I'm on course to change or just well...

Forget the latter. I was just elected PCO for one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in urban South Seattle. I'm fired up and ready to go! But I will still read this book!