November Miscellaneum

I love this image! Who ever said we have to stop at Plan B? Life and big goals are always changing…we have so many more opportunities than we realize to learn, adjust, try, fail, get back up and keep going. The beauty is in the mess. Now just remind me I said that when I’m looking at my morning reflection after rolling out of bed

Exciting news from New York City: we had our first snow over Halloween weekend! I’ve never lived on the East Coast before, so for the first 30 minutes it was cute and fun and breathtaking — then it quickly turned cold and slippery. Just about once a day someone here says, “Ooooh, you’re from California? Good luck! We had a BRUTAL Winter last year.” I have no idea what to expect…if I fall off the blogosphere for three months it’s either because my fingers froze off or I’ve become a hermit and haven’t left the house to socialize, eat or find things to write about.

A Short Google Reader Rant: I don’t know about you, but I’m a little distressed that Google Reader is now gone…at least in the form I had gotten nice and cozy with. I used to LOVE sharing posts and seeing friends’ shared posts; it was how I got exposed to new blogs and new ideas — the best of the best as voted by my Reader friends. Now I have to sign into Google+ and get lost in the entire stream, which I don’t want. Just show me the posts!

You can see what an individual has recommended by clicking on the +1s column of their profile — see an example of mine here.

In an ode to sharing quality content from around the web without Google Reader (:::pout!:::), I’ve put together my own list of must-reads that have knocked my socks off this month. I’ve also been Tumblr-ing more at Jenny Unplugged.

November Round-Up:

• My links from around the web: an article for Portfolio.com called Riding the Income Roller Coaster, and a video interview with Tim Jahn for EntrepreneursUnpluggd
• Kindle, FTW! My book peaked at #25 in Career Guides on Kindle yesterday!!! If you’re planning on getting it at some point, I’d love for you to do that this week — if I can get it into the top 20 (i.e. Page 1 of the Career section) there’s a chance that momentum could really snowball from people randomly stumbling upon it! Thanks so much everyone
• Allie nails the feeling of low-grade, unexplainable melancholy (and had me in side-splitting laughter) with Adventures in Depression. I’m new to her blog (h/t Nicole) but plan on sticking around for a very long time!
• Tom Sachs writes an awesome hand-written list for the Wall Street Journal called 10 Bullets: Creativity is the Enemy of Innovation
• Although I may have talked about The Itchy Scratchy Art of Saying No, Jenny Ferry sticks up for it’s long-lost sibling in A Little Air Time for Yes - a beautiful compliment.
• Jay Money shares his Make Sh*t Happen case study (I share four every week as part of the course) with his community in How I Accomplished My Goal of Full-Time Blogging. 
• From the vault: a 2008 New York Magazine piece called Alone Together: Is Urban Loneliness a Myth? Summary: “Manhattan is the capital of people living by themselves. But are New Yorkers lonelier? Far from it, say a new breed of loneliness researchers, who argue that urban alienation is largely a myth.”
• Ryan MacDowell from Montreal brings his Life After College book to life in the most amazing way — by documenting every single exercise in an interactive online journal!
• Alicia Curtis hosts her own Creative Day of Genius party based on my guest post for Charlie Gilkey. New Years will be here again before we know it! Let’s all host parties
• Martin Lindstrom describes in Fast Company how Whole Foods Primes You to Shop (I know this first-hand because I can easily spend $90 there on just the basics every week!). The article is based on his new book, Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy.
• Carmen Sognovi writes a fantastic post for Pam Slim’s blog called Confessions of a Runaway: The Stuff Nobody Tells You About Escaping Cubicle Nation (I relate to all of it!)
• The always-brilliant Justine Musk posts a powerful One Reason You Should Give Yourself Permission to Work On Your Badass Creative Project.
• Alina Tugend explores overdosing on self-help in her New York Times article, Pursuing Self-Improvement, At the Risk of Self-Acceptance. An excerpt: “Self-improvement is a deeply embedded American trait, something other cultures find both admirable and amusing. The notion that we can constantly make ourselves better is, in theory, a great idea. But when does it become too much?”
• My Skype-Slumber-Party-Turned-IRL-Bestie (#SPIRLBFF) Elisa Doucette is leaving Maine and moving to Bali!! She’s taking a great leap after many ups and downs this year to embark on what will surely be an epic adventure and an even more epic gig that she carved out for herself with the rockstar TropicalMBA team. While I will miss her in my time zone tremendously, it was about time we took this #SPIRLship international
• Continuing on theme with handwritten notes, Sarah Peck put together an incredible and wise 28 in fifty-two notes: a year’s worth of writing, lessons and people. She also drew this awesome (and hilarious!) picture for me earlier this year:

I want those boots!