Tranquility Pike

Success

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” 
-- Tony Robbins

Banned Books Week: Go Out and Read a Banned or Challenged Book

Some of the best books ever written have been slapped with a ban or challenge somewhere along the way. In junior high, I had to present a signed parent's permission slip to be allowed to read The Catcher in the Rye. As I recall, there's a cuss word near the last page ... horror! And To Kill a Mockingbird? Great, great book. It was banned at some point, as well.

Banned Books Week, 9/26 to 10/3, is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. For more details related to the fight against censorship, see the American Booksellers Association Foundation for Free Expression. 

Feels Good to Curl Up with a Good Book

more animals

Actually, I spent most of yesterday with a good book titled Love the Work, Hate the Job: Why America's Best Workers are More Unhappy than Ever (David Kusnet, John Wiley & Sons). With sharp analysis and a lot of political insight, this book goes a long way toward explaining how people in high-tech industries are approaching and doing their jobs in this drastically changing, increasingly global economy. Corporations are focused on shareholder value and quarterly results. Workers are focused on quality, innovation and creativity. Of course, they are butting heads. 

Yes, the global marketplace is changing fast. I don't have the answers, but now I have a slightly better understanding of the challenges of the future. 

Dave's Back & the Blog Continues

As you may have heard, Worldwide Pants reached an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and so Late with David Letterman and Late Show with Craig Ferguson return with writers today, January 2.

Take Note: This does not mean the writers strike is over! The job action for compensation for original content on the Internet and other new media continues, and so does the Late Show Writers on Strike blog. The blog is hilarious, crammed with astute strike observations, celeb visits, pictures directly from the picket line, and typical late-night jokes. Here's one:

BILL SCHEFT'S STRIKE-RELATED DAVE-TYPE MONOLOGUE JOKE OF THE DAY - Last week, the Writers Guild voted to not grant a waiver to this year's Academy Awards. And executives at ABC are worried that without all that carefully scripted material, the show will be forced to cut back from four hours to three hours, 53 minutes.