Connor's Nutty Newsletter July 2009

See the origional Newsletter set out on 1/8/2009? View it here.

Hello!
Here it is! My first half-yearly newsletter. Let's get started...

What's Inside?
- Updates from Singapore
- Songs!
- Links and Articles
- Story! Becoming my Parents
- Movies
- Books
- Bye Bye

Rambles from Singapore

Life is going well. I should be back in the USA towards the end of the year for at-least 2 weeks. I need some time away from Asia and I miss my home town. (I just hope I can still remember how to drive!).

My job is finally becoming more stable. After struggling with the economy and understanding the ins and outs of a strangely complex industry, I seem to be getting the hang of things. For those who are wondering, I am a specialist Engineering and Technical recruiter for the Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Energy sector. Funny how a green-fingered, environmental hippy kid ends up helping Oil & Gas companies...

Sing Ing, my girlfriend, is also well and we are doing our best not to bite each-other's heads off. What is it about me and hot-tempered women?

FunStuff - Songs: Here are a couple of songs that I am listening to way too much lately.

P!ink - Please Don't Leave Me: Great song for guys with hot-tempered girls.

Nickleback - If Today Was Your Last Day: I like the message in this song.

Links and Articles

Articles: Think different about your world.

"The Case for Working with Your Hands" - http://digg.com/d3sCeL?e
Comments: We spend our days fighting computers and doing a lot of work which in a few years could easily be automated by a computer. Maybe there are other choices?

"A Struggle for the Legacy of the Iranian Revolution" - http://digg.com/d3uPwo?e
Comments: A nice article summarizing what is happening in Iran and what the future may hold.

Websites: Something useful and interesting.

Slifeweb is an interested take on time tracking / management applications - http://www.slifeweb.com/

LiquidPlanner is a great way to track major time-sensitive projects across teams and interface with clients - http://www.liquidplanner.com/

Job-a-Matic is a cool tool that helps you create your own job-board for free and in less than 10 minutes. http://www.jobamatic.com/

Becoming my parents?

When I was growing up I heard my parents (and many other people) complain about "becoming their parents". I remember clearly in the slimy sea of my memory making a promise never to become my parents. I love my parents, but I just didn't want to become them with all of their irritating personal habits.

And oh boy did that promise work great... until I got older. With each passing year, I feel like I am more and more like my parents. Each day, some irritating habit of my parents - snorting saltwater, making morning smoothies, setting a fixed sleep schedule... is more and more appealing! And often without even thinking, I am suddenly living that life, living my parents lives.

It must be a great conspiracy. While telling us to be "independent" and seemingly living through the "unique" adventures of our lives, our parents are secretly poisoning our minds; making us more like them. Nah... I can't give so much credit to them.

Such is the irony of life. As we get older, all those things I thought were so stupid start to make sense. And all those things I did when I was younger really do not look so smart now (in particular one memory stands out of me insisting on wearing a completely red outfit to school: including hat and shoes).

Yet even in becoming my parents, I also seem to be becoming something else. And I am thankful for my parents giving me that.

FunStuff - Movies: A few I have watched and enjoyed recently.

Ghost Town - Funny as hell, great acting and just enough message to keep it around:

Taken - well acted, fun and alright story. Gets a bit predictable at the end, but well worth a rent: