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Jean-Robert at Pigall's to close February 28, 2009

Jean-Robert at Pigall's to close February 28, 2009

After an extremely successful run in Cincinnati, Jean-Robert at Pigall’s will close on February 28, 2009, this article in the Cincinnati Enquirer confirms. The restaurant on 4th Street  in downtown Cincinnati, is majority owned by Marilyn and Martin Wade and run by Executive Chef Jean-Robert…

An Apology to the World

An Apology to the World

Dear World, The United States of America, your quality supplier of ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for its 2001-2008 service outage.The technical fault that led to this eight-year service interruption has been located. Replacement components were ordered Tuesday, November 4th, 2008,…

Productivity Books Galore

Productivity Books Galore

Recently, I’ve been sent several very interesting productivity books and am slowly working my way through them. The titles I’ve received:

  • Zen to Done by Leo Babauta
  • The Power of Less by Leo Babauta
  • Making It All Work by David Allen
  • Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
  • 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller
  • The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People by Carol Eikleberry

I’m currently just a handful of pages into Making It All Work and can already tell that this book enriches the lessons set out by Getting Things Done (also by David Allen). This new book is, happily, written much more for my personality type than Getting Things Done was, so I am enjoying (and absorbing) the information quite readily.

My current intention is to read all of these books then determine how their lessons can be applied to my life, probably resulting in a cherry-picked solution custom-tailored for my specific needs. (And then, if evidence holds true, I will write a book about my process and become a thousand-aire off it.)

“Certainly if you find yourself reading productivity book after productivity book you’re missing the point.”

What productivity books have you read? How have they impacted your life? Do you do any of the methods suggested in those books? Let us all know in the comments.

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Want to Do in 2009

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Want to Do in 2009

From this site comes this week’s Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Want to Do in 2009. In no particular order, mine are:

  1. Continue to lose weight. I’m down approximately 20 pounds since August 2008!
  2. Compete in Culinary Competitions through the American Culinary Federation. This plan is under way.
  3. Enjoy more time with my wife.
  4. Continue teaching at the Midwest Culinary Institute. Been teaching there as an adjunct for a while now, and really enjoy it and intend to broaden my range of class offerings.
  5. Exercise more. Wendy & I joined a gym recently and have been working out there. I intend for this to become a habit.
  6. Process my backlog of recipes into BigOven — my recipe management software. I am seriously backlogged and would love to dig my way out.
  7. Climb to the top of the learning curve in my new job. New jobs take 1 year to learn around here since you must go through one cycle to be exposed to everything. As I write this, I am in month #8.
  8. Travel! I’d love to get back to Las Vegas, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Germany, Dominican Republic. I’d love to get to California, France, Florida (Disney, specifically), and, well, just about anywhere else!
  9. Finally kill my old stupid debt, once and for all. I’ve made SIGNIFICANT progress over the last year, and have only a little further to go before I am completely stupid debt-free (stupid debt being different than, say, house debt or car debt).
  10. Continue to develop my culinary skills and knowledge.
  11. See what comes my way! Take delight in the things the world throws at me. Seek the good in everyone & everything.
3 for $33 at The Summit Restaurant

3 for $33 at The Summit Restaurant

Give your taste buds an education! Born of the passion for excellent cuisine, the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State spreads and shares its fervor with an international array of students who wish to turn their passions into careers. Under the tutelage of M.C.I.’s expert…