The Choice is Yours

I saw this the other day on Pinterest and thought it was clever.  We all make a subconscious decision everyday about this.  Let's make a conscious decision to go with the latter.

A Helping of The Help

I'm back in London and finished reading Kathryn Stockett's book "The Help" last week.   I highly recommend it to everyone.

It's a fictional story about the lives of African American housekeepers in the South (U.S.) in the 1960's.   This is Stockett's first book, and like Harper Lee, she's written a masterpiece on racial tensions through the lives of everyday individuals.  "The Help" is what I call an "all emotions" book because it will make you laugh, cry, wonder, get mad, etc.  And those are the best kinds IMO because they mirror our own reality.

The format of the book is quite clever.  Stockett's protagonist Skeeter is an aspiring writer who teams up with the African American help in Jackson, Mississippi to secretly write a tell-all book about what it's like to work for their white employers.

It's interesting how in an unequal world, there could be so much love and hate between whites and blacks.   And through it all, African Americans persevered.  There's a shocking moment when readers find out about the Terrible Awful, but I couldn't help myself but to cheer for Minny in her act of retribution towards evil Hilly.

I don't think "The Help" is a story about the South.  I think it's a story about humanity.  We have a peculiar tendency to create artificial lines.  And this is true around the world.  In India, there was the caste system.  In South Africa, there was apartheid.  Even in London, a city sometimes called the capital of the world, there are unspoken feelings that Eastern Europeans are lower class.   Why do we do this?

I don't know the answer.  But my hypothesis is that we create barriers and put other people in boxes because it allows us to more quickly understand the world.  Humans often rely on deductive reasoning, meaning we make conclusions based on generalizations.  And we also think and learn in analogies.  This can help us quickly indentify what Little Samuel's parents do, what kind of car they drive, and where they live based on outward appearances.  It doesn't make it right though.

What's the solution?  This terrible problem we have isn't something that will go away in my lifetime, I believe. The best solution is a mindset.  If we individually start treating people like people instead of treating them as X people or Y people, it'll be a start.

I like to know what the author's motivation is when reading their work.  Stockett grew up in Jackson and was inspired to write this book based on her own childhood experience.  In the acknowledgement section, she wrote, "...my belated thanks to Demetrie McLorn, who carried us all out of the hospital wrapped in our baby blankets and spent her life feeding us, picking up after us, loving us, and thank God, forgiving us."

Just like old times

For better or for worse, I'm back in Austin for half the summer.  Besides that awful not-to-be-named school, the city really is the jewel of Texas.  Getting here was quite an adventure, and something I never want to do again.  I had a final on a Wednesday, two finals on a Friday, and two finals were on Saturday (the Brits are assessment nazis who don't think twice about weekend tests).  Post finals celebration at the Windsor was followed by the Stream B end of year party (in the Porn Basement...aka the Stream B party house).  Over the year, my study group and friends had won three bottles of champagne (including a giant magnum of Veuve Clicquot), so we celebrated the end of the first year with them.   Then, I stayed up most of Saturday night frantically packing for the summer and shoving my stuff into every nook and crevice so my flat could be subleased for the summer (thank goodness I found a subleaser).  The cab came to my place at 6 am Sunday morning to take me to Heathrow for my non-stop flight to Houston.  After an exhausting trip (where my seat's entertainment system was jacked...grr), I unloaded in Houston and had dinner with Holly at Ruggles Cafe in Rice Village (one of my faves).  Monday morning was a ridiculous number of errands and then driving to Austin in a rental car to start work on Tuesday.  I'm staying with a wonderful couple who are family friends.  They have a great place in Tarrytown and welcomed me to their home.  I don't know how I would have managed to do this this summer without their help.

Cheers to B2, the best study group.  Ever :) 

The next tough part about moving to a new city is being friendless.  Luckily, there are a handful of people I know that have welcomed me and inducted me into the Austin culture.   

Blast from the past high school rendezvous with Jennifer and Kaci.  Good to see Kaci after 9 years!

Double trouble.  Went to a "soup party" with Steven and Bryan (aka Brooks).  I don't know how to describe the event, but think of it as a Tupperware party meets summer BBQ, but with soups instead.  Very Austin culture but fun!

Monday funday!  After an intense P90X-esque class at Pure Austin, I head across the street to have dinner at the Whole Foods world HQ on Mondays.  It's like a gastro Disney World.

Three men and a lady.  I don't remember how and when I met Cason, Jared (aka Morris), and Craig (aka Craigers), but I did.  They are a bit older, wiser, and funnier than me and are a great group of guys to hang out with!

Pinterest
I credit my sweet dear friend Amy as the one who introduced me to such great things as Chaco's, Martha Stewart Living, SLR cameras, REI, Hill's Bike Shop, garage sales, and Pinterest.  This last one is a neat website that allows you to track, store, and "pin" your favorite items and ideas together online.  You can also see what your friends are (p)interested in for inspiration.    I became a member this weekend and LOVE it.  You should check it out...very cool service.  http://pinterest.com/

Bravo Bearded Brothers

Aside from the abundance of burnt orange (t.u.), Austin is a great city to live in.   Friendly people.  Highly educated population.  Beautiful hill country.  Relatively affordable cost of living.  Plenty of musicians coming through.  A plethora of outdoors and fitness-related activities.  Wide variety of restaurants and trendy shopping.
I had a great post-workout conversation yesterday with a fellow Austinite at Pure Austin.  His name is Chris, and he founded Bearded Brothers with his brother Caleb.  In their search for a nutritional, tasty snack on their outdoors adventures, they felt unsatisfied and felt there is room in the market for handmade, 100% organic energy bars.  And that was the impetus for creatiing their own company Bearded Brothers.  I had a taste of four of their products and enjoyed them.  If I come across them again, I'd certainly consider them as substitutes for the Clif Bars I usually buy.  In addition to being organic and packed with good nutrition, their energy bars are mostly raw (to preserve nutrition), gluten free, and vegan.  These aspects are less important to me but could be beneficial to the hoards of people who do look for those qualities (very trendy in Austin). 

Chris was kind and spent ~15 minutes talking to me about his business.  (As a b-school student and aspiring entrepreneur, of course I was going to be nosy!)  He told me about how the idea came about, their business model, what their operations are like, pricing, etc.  I've found that entrepreneurs are very open and willing to share their experiences and lessons learned.  Similar to those in the tech industry.  I asked myself why that is and the commonality is that these are innovators.  And that reminded me of a debate that my entrepreneurship professor, Dr. Gary Dushnitsky participated in recently. 

http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2011/06/outsourcing_is_not_the_answer.html

The other interesting thing I found out from Chris was about Kickstarter.  Think of it as Kiva meets crowd giving.  I question the sustainability of some of this funding and believe they could get greater scale if it was a loan model vs. gift model.  However, I do applaud the idea and think that many aspiring entrepreneurs will and have benefited.

Check out Bearded Brothers and Kickstarter!
http://www.beardedbros.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/

Funny and true
My b-school classmate Leetal shared this clever comparison of tech company org charts.  Haha!  I think there's some truth behind these...

Big Coke

With the help of The Economist, I think I’ve found one of the few things that’s cheaper in London than Texas…cocaine!  Haha.  

Little Miss Giggles

A sweet award from my awesome stream mates in our final class.  Who knew my cackle is distinguishable?

Ode to rugby

Women's touch rugby.  These three words have been a big part of my first year MBA experience.  While I do enjoy the game, I really LOVE my teammates.  Many (but not all) are in my stream, and I'm blessed to count them as some of my best friends here at London Business School.  Because of my involvement in many activities on campus and my role as a Student Ambassador, I get to interact quite a bit with prospective students.  One question they ask is:  Who should go to business school?  The answers are endless including people wanting to make a career switch, entrepreneurs, people wanting to advance their career, etc.  After a year in, I would specifically call out "high achieving women".   At London Business School, I'm always impressed with the profile and caliber of students recruited.  I've noticed though that relatively, the women at LBS tend to impress me even more than the men (which is already a high bar).   Whether they exhibit excellence in all that they do, beat the odds to hold distinguished positions in their companies, or overcome repressive female policies and norms in their home countries, I'm continually amazed.   And being on a rugby team with these girls is not only fun but also motivating.  A few highlights of the year...

Toga party + Elvia/Tanya's birthday celebration at MBAT...

A subset of the best women's touch rugby committee ever...

Rugby 7's tournament at Twickenham.  Amazing to see the NZ All Blacks and SA Springboks play...

Silly group photo at Twickenham.  Pei pointed out the interesting placement of my arm...

Best co-president ever...Joyce is a rockstar and don't know what I would do without a good friend like her

My favorite Singaporean, Louise.  She's a joy to be around and is a renaissance woman of sorts.

Ex-Pat Anniversary
This weekend was Admits Weekend for London Business School, and I remember my non-stop flight from Houston to London a year ago.  As my first year in London comes to a close, I have a very special "thank you" to everyone who has sent me emails, letters, care packages, and even come to visit.  So...to Reese, David, Lis, Bo, Tuan, Britt, Alyssa, Luke, Levi, Cory, Mike, Harrison, Daniel, Sarah A., Sarah M., mom, dad, and Binita, thanks for coming to London!

Dad & me in Bath

A recent Borough Market outing with Daniel and the Sarahs

Texans reunited in London @ Sundowners

J'adore Paris with Lis