Procrastinator's Manifesto

•1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
•2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
•3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
•4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
•5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
•6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
•7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesmally small, is not exactly zero.
•8. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
•9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
•10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
•11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
•12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
•13. I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever

If only they are not so true.

Now I must start grading my student's exam..... after I finish the good books I found at Aksara :-D

Bookfest

After lebaran and not many relatives and friend to visit. So I turned my attention to books, some newly acquired and some borrowed

For anyone like fiction with historical and cultural background, I'd highly recommend Tai Pan and Noble House by James Clavell which exquisitely intertwined European politic with Asian culture. The description of Asian mind set, sense of collectivity and patience as well as greed, manipulation and strategy is simply superb. Especially with backdrop of Opium wars and founding of Hongkong

Khaled Hosseini in his 'The Kite Runner" thought me more about Afghanistan than newspaper articles that I read all these years (and I assured you that I am quite well read) especially the combination of pride and insecurity due to more successful neighboring countries (Iran, Pakistan and Russia). The courting process between the protagonist is just precious and the theme of redemption could be apply everywhere. I particularly enjoyed the vivid description of live under Taliban.

Aksara and Periplus surely deserve a two thumb up for providing affordable and high quality English books

Let the bookfest continue!

First lebaran at home since 5 years ago

The title says it all

1000 emails and counting

The next step after getting a decent internet connection is to read my piles of emails (yes, I have more than 1000 unread emails, mostly but not limited to mailing lists, on my inbox) and start replying. My apology if your emails has not been answered, I am halfway on it.