New Year's Resolutions

This will be the first time in many years that I am not making a resolution to lose weight.  Since last March, with further modifications to what has been a vegetarian diet for 19 years, I have taken off over 15% of my prior weight by moving to a plant-based diet often called "Eat to Live."  I've focused on my core muscles with Pilates and yoga classes at the University Y.  The upshot?  I sleep better, I have more energy, and my arthritic knees feel sooooo much better!  Having waited nine months to see if I could keep the weight off, I donated a large number of pantsuits with accessories to the YWCA "Dress for Success" program just before Christmas.

My other big step forward last year was to stick with learning to paint in watercolor.  The classes, led by Jan Morris and available through the city parks department, require me to step away from my office for about 3 hours on a weekday...they take me out of my comfort zone since I am a rank amateur.  I will be continuing with watercolor, yoga and Pilates, and  walking at Green Lake in 2015.

So the big resolution is not about weight, but rather about focus.  I have not made time to work on my Executives and Risk book this past year.  And I've cut back somewhat on public speaking.  Both are possible, even with my regular consulting and teaching engagements, if I sit down and schedule it.  My first venture out of the country this year will be in February, to Amsterdam again, for the international OpRisk2015 conference, where I'll be part of the debate faculty.

I wish each of you a happy and productive New Year!

Autumn walking.

I started this blog some years ago when I was learning to walk long distances.  Seven years later, I walk shorter distances but find each walk to be more than exercise.  Usually, I walk at Green Lake, and  I use my eyes as much as my legs.  I take great pleasure in the act of walking, to use the time to re-balance, or to perform what I have called elsewhere "cleaning out the gunk."

With my eyes and my camera, I look for what Carolyn Scott Kortge, author of one of my favorite books, "The Spirited Walker" (Harper, 1998) calls "the fields of light," and what Bono calls "...a light we cannot always see."

And yes, puddles still tempt me!

Human rights are everyone's rights.

I was rather totally taken by Ken Burns' series, "The Roosevelts" last week.  I started reading more about some of the issues raised in the series, and have been particularly taken by how relevant Eleanor Roosevelt's small book, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for A More Fulfilling Life is today -- even though it was published in 1960.  As I watched the series, I tried to mark the differences in how technology operated then and now, knowing that a key reason FDR was able to enter us into war with Congress' consent was because there was a certain vacuum, or time lag, in when information, especially nasty information, was delivered.  As I read the book, I marveled at how little the human spirit has changed over the years and how adept she is at identifying those ideas and beliefs that draw us together. 

It covers such topics as how to be of use and comments on everything from overcoming shyness to raising children to be part of the world.  It includes sections in nearly every chapter on her fundamental commitment to human rights and to enlarging one's world view.  I have been particularly taken by her comments on the role of women, and how important it is for them to be part of the world, even while they raise children.

I doubt there is ever a woman who has ever better understood her purpose than Eleanor Roosevelt.  She may have wanted to hide many times, but she never did.  Despite ridicule and even hatred, she took her place -- and, because she did, I am able to teach a wonderful document called the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, created as one of the first products of the new organization after World War II.  That declaration, like our own U.S. Declaration of Independence, begins at the right level, with a grand and sweeping tone:

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world;"

It is especially of interest to me as I teach my first class of the quarter today in the course called "Policy, Law and Ethics in Information Management"  We're actually going to read the Declaration of Independence together, out loud, sentence by sentence.  And talk about how the U.S. government is structured so as to produce checks and balances, and to guarantee certain "unalienable rights, and that among them are the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."  That's from memory, so I may not have it quite right.

I do not envy President Obama his job today, as he launches attacks against both ISIL (everyone does agree that ISIL is real, in part because of their effective use of YouTube and other forms of social media), and deploys military units to help organize the containment of Ebola in Western Africa.  Every move he makes is scrutinized closely. He lacks wriggle room.  And he clearly knows more than he is telling us about just how bad the threats are at this point.

Ten that have stuck with me.

 My friend Tracy Kudrna challenged me (and others) to come up with the ten books that have stuck all our lives.  I read a lot, so I modified the assignment slightly to cover, in some cases, groups of books.  

Here's what I posted.

"I can't do it in single books, but here's my best attempt: 1) The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery books; 2) the complete works of Mahatma Gandhi; 3) the Pathfinder series of books, featuring heroines and heroes like Annie Oakley, Amelia Earhardt, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell and Wild Bill Cody; 4) the letters, sermons and speeches of the great leader/orator Dr. Martin Luther King; 5) biographies of Eleanor Roosevelt; 6) mystery novels with a single detective in a series, like Nero Wolfe (Rex Stout), Adam Dagliesh (P.D. James) or Inspector Alleyn (Ngaio Marsh) 7) all Inspector Thomas Lynley novels by Elizabeth George; 8) the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson; 9) the complete works of William Blake; and 10) the poems of William Butler Yeats. I love to read."

Growing up.

I started using a personal trainer when I still worked downtown, in 2007.  Amy got me in shape for two 3 Day Walks for breast cancer through a combination of training sessions and holding me accountable on daily walks that got longer and longer.  In 2009, when I left JPMorgan Chase, my son James suggested I look at the University Family Y, which is right here in the neighborhood, for personal training.  And he was right!  The diversity of staff and members is unmatched in any private gym you'd find. 

For the last couple of years, Ruth Collard has been my personal trainer.  Most Mondays and Fridays you can find us downstairs with the weights and machines early in the morning.  We've had a great run.  She sets up programs for me that mix up work on machines, with balance and core  work.   And I have really enjoyed getting to know her better. She's a CPA, an avid gardener, and a force behind the Freeway Estates Community Orchard Project.

Down 40 pounds from those days in 2007!

I started trying to add a group class at the University Y a month or so before Ruth announced she was retiring at the end of this month.  Since then, I've been more assiduous in trying out various group classes, which are part of my Y membership.  I've tried yoga, zumba and mat pilates.  I've integrated the Pilates into my work calendar, and am looking for 2 other sessions each week.  Ruth is leaving me with explicit instructions on everything we now do together, and I should be able to get to the weight room once a week at the usual early morning time.

There's no doubt that it's easier to get fit when someone is telling you what to do and saying "good job!"  I certainly walked in the early morning more often when I was in training for actual events.   If I can't stay fit on my own, then I'll find another trainer.  But a small part of me sees this as a graduation of sorts, a commitment outside the contract.  Only time will tell.

Happy anniversary to ASA!

 

It hardly seems possible that we launched Annie Searle & Associates LLC (ASA) five years ago today.  I have posted some pictures from the launch on the Advice From A Risk Detective website.  Here I wanted to reflect briefly on how much I owe to a large network of colleagues across the globe, who have complementary interests in risk in general;  in how technology has impacted ethics, policy and law, particularly in the workplace; in privacy as subject matter in and of itself; and in security, both the physical and the information aspects. 

Our world is changing rapidly, and so is ASA's.  Initially, we thought most of our practice would be consulting work with an occasional bit of public speaking. In the past three years in particular, that's shifted somewhat to make room for writing books and articles; and for teaching graduate students at the University of Washington's Information School. 

Next month, we'll have a couple of announcements to make, not the least of which has to do with opening a wider access point for those who wish to write on risk-related topics for what will be Volume III of Reflections on Risk.  As of last February, we have published 48 research notes through these volumes.  Another 13 have since been published on our website since Volume II.  I consider this more than satisfactory progress toward beginning to influence how experts think about real world risk, and what solutions might be proposed to better handle them.

As I said, more announcements next month!

Endless summer!

Early morning light

Summer of the Hydrangeas

Every place beckons the eye

Patriotic pots of flowers

As I read a gardening article by Robin Lane Fox this morning in the Financial Times, called "American Pioneers," that looks at the impact of six US women on landscape design and photography in the early 20th century, I felt extraordinarily lucky to live in Seattle.  We have the Olmsted Brothers to thank for the mature large parks that we enjoy.  Many of us are fortunate enough to have our own spot of garden adjacent to our homes.  I've certainly photographed my own often enough.  It is a source of endless delight to my eyes and hands.

2013 dinner in back garden for Leroy and his graduate seminar

2006, after renovation of the back garden

This is the first morning in several weeks where it has not been 80 degrees or more by noon.  I hope to spend some time this afternoon trimming up things out there.  I think there is no greater sense of accomplishment than to work in your garden.