MJ July 04, 2020

Book Review - The War of Art

“You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen [sic], and moved to Vienna to live and study. He applied to the Academy of Fine Arts and later to the School of Architecture. Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I’ll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.” The first few pages of Steven Pressfield’s book “The W…

MJ June 28, 2020

PVS (Phishing, Vishing, Smishing)

Hello and thank you for visiting my blog. There’s something I haven’t told a lot of people. In my country of birth, I am the first son of the king, making me next in line to be king. But I am in need of some help. My money is tied up in some infrastructure projects in my country. If you loan me $100, I would be able to access that money and once my money frees up, I will reward you with $10,000. To me, this sounds too good to be true but there are many people that have fallen for scams …

MJ June 21, 2020

Courage

“I shall pass this way but once; any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” - Etienne de Grellet I started this week planning to write about one topic, but everything I’ve read and researched this week has led me to the topic of courage and belief. Specifically, courage in the face of adversity. Adversity can come from all angles—work, relationships, physical, a…

MJ June 14, 2020

Pom Poko

For the month of May, my wife tried to get me to watch the Studio Ghibli movie “Pom Poko.” The length of time it took to finish was no fault of the movie and more so because I easily fall asleep. But finally, on June 5th, I had the energy needed to stay awake throughout its entirety. Pom Poko ended up being one of the best movies, in any category, that I have ever seen. After reading this, go out and purchase the movie if you have the means. This is one you’ll want to keep on hand for t…

MJ June 07, 2020

Learning - Make It Stick

Some 5 or 6 years ago, the company that I worked for wanted the junior staff to obtain the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification. It would help us become more marketable for projects. If a client sees CISSP on a resume, the belief was that they would be more likely to hire that person. A few of my coworkers either didn’t take the exam or failed it, but one that I considered a rival passed the exam on her first try. This motivated me to stop procrastinatin…

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