Alex Kudera’s first novel won an Independent Publishers Book Awards award — the IPPY Gold Medal for Best Fiction. I wrote about him and his book, Fight For Your Long Day, a couple months ago. He’s planning to give a reading in New York this summer. Who knows how fast his star will rise? Congratulations Alex!

Saturday was such a beautiful day I couldn’t resist walking in the park across the street from my building, making me late to meet my sister and nephew in Queens. The park is tiny but beautifully maintained by neighbors. It has a small walking path around it. The pictures in the slide show below follow my view walking around the path, sometimes looking forward, sometimes backward, sometimes toward the middle.[…] Keep reading →

Two thoughts to follow up my post from two days ago: Where you get energy. First, after mentioning I was mystified by people who used the same excuses not to dance that I used to dance, I should mention that before my dancing friends got me to go dancing the first time, I would have used any excuse to avoid dancing too. I didn’t know how to dance and was[…] Keep reading →

“I love to do X, but I’m not good at it” or “I think I’d love X, but I can’t do it.” Such common excuses not to do something. People just stop thinking or motivating themselves after saying that. Result? Even as they watch others have the times of their lives, they don’t sing, they don’t go to the gym, they don’t dance, they don’t get on stage, they don’t[…] Keep reading →

Want to have more energy to do things? I’ll demonstrate how how much energy you have to do something rarely has to do with how much energy you have. When I used to go dancing every Friday night I would look forward to the excitement of seeing friends, listening to great music, dressing up, etc. The friends I went out with looked forward to it too. I was mystified by[…] Keep reading →

The summer after high school, my friend Tuan and I rode our bikes from Philadelphia to Bar Harbor, Maine and back, about 1,500 miles. We were both sixteen at the time. The trip was amazing — not that I remember many details anymore… quite an independent experience for kids that age. Everything went great. An amazing growth experience. We mostly found random places to camp, but also stayed in back[…] Keep reading →

A reader emailed me about mindfulness and self-awareness. I mentioned to him a meditation retreat I did a few years ago and found an old post I wrote about the experience, answering another reader’s questions about the course. I did a ten day Vipassana course a few years ago. What it’s about: It teaches you a meditation technique and gives you the time and space to practice it. It’s based[…] Keep reading →

This week’s New Yorker has an article on test tube meat — that is, meat produced outside a body. I’ve been talking about it for a while, as someone who doesn’t eat meat and as an entrepreneur. I’m looking forward to reading the article. I first read about the idea on a nerdy site called Slashdot a couple years ago. Technology recently made it possible. I think most people’s reaction[…] Keep reading →

For those who appreciated my series on entrepreneurial myths and productive behaviors, my friend and business school classmate, Ian Sigalow, posted on myths in venture capital, in particular “The Myth of the Board Seat.” Ian is an all-too-rare person who is successful at both entrepreneurship and venture capital. In school he got one of the most desired positions, working with Alan Patricof (also Columbia MBA) to found Greycroft Partners, where[…] Keep reading →