Photo at Barnes & Noble.
I took 17 photos, stitched them together using an iPhone app that turned them into a panorama, and then ran them through a photo filter to get the effect of a Degas painting.

Then I ran the photo through a special effects iPhone application

I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them. ~ Pablo Picasso

I recently read: "The Four Hour Work Week," a book by Tim Ferriss that you will either find incredibly useful or totally worthless, depending on whether or not you would like to have more time to travel and live your life rather than be confined by a 9-5 job.

How many people truly believe they can can pare down their working hours to just four? It seems very unlikely. And what to do with all that free time? This book gets you thinking about ways to work efficiently by simplifying your work life, eliminating meetings and material possessions, and using technology to automate tasks.

In a nutshell, the book helps guide you through the steps that are necessary to gradually leave behind your 9-5 work week and start a business that you create based on your own interests and aptitudes.

Ferriss summarizes his strategy as DEAL:

1.) Definition – Define as precisely as possible what you want to do with your future.

2.) Elimination – Cut out mundane time-sapping work and avoid unnecessary meetings. Eliminate non-crucial material possessions.

3.) Automation – Use technology to streamline the processes of a business venture that you create.

4.) Liberation – Decide what you want to do with your newly-found free time.

Even if you plan to remain at your existing job for and have family or other responsibilities that prevent you from packing it all up and running a business from India, Argentina, France or Thailand, you can use Ferriss’ suggestions to provide more free time from your existing work.

For example, I used to personally print photos for my clients. Recently I located a photo lab in California that makes even better professional photos than I did, and they package and ship photos directly to my clients. Now I no longer have to print, package, and deliver photos. I used to hate these chores, but now they’re literally out of my hands.

This one use of automation means that my clients have photos delivered to their doorsteps, and I have many more hours a week to do other things that I enjoy.

Here are a couple of videos from people who are putting the 4 Hour Work Week (4HWW) to use in their lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1merER1zVFg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgsFXPNM8uo

The author:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpRja0-vrU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX3eJRwJqlc

His book, “Getting Things Done” aims to help readers get a handle on the information that fills our lives. He suggests that we use tools to get all of of our “things to do” out of our psyches to free our brains for what they’re really designed to do, which is use intuition & intelligence.

Quite simply, he suggests breaking big tasks into small, doable ones. We should ask ourselves, “What is the next physical action required to move the project forward?”

The goal is to devise simple systems that work with the way you think to organize all of the appointments, scraps of paper and lists that crowd your desks, inbox and calendar in a way that frees you from worrying about forgetting stuff.

If you’d like to see the system that Allen himself uses to organize the info from his own life, check out this video that I recently came across on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ULWQ_tnM8

Here is a video showing you how to create a "Getting Things Done" notebook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHRcnbe2LA8

NOTE: If you decide to make your own notebook, Avery makes great Note Tabs that are self-adhesive and much easier to use than those shown in the video above. I’ve used these for my own GTD notebook and they are very easy to work with. You can get them through Amazon, among other places:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002M7W0O8/ref=oss_product

I'm reading, "How to Get Rich: One of the World's Greatest Entrepreneurs Shares His Secrets" by Felix Dennis.

This book is written by one of the richest men in Britain. He is an incredibly wealthy entrepreneur who amassed a fortune through his publishing empire including magazines such as The Week and Maxim. It is obvious from the start that this was his own pet project to share with others what making money is really about. This is not a book about management or a get-rich-quick scheme. This is about what it really takes to get rich, written by a man who does not need to earn a penny from book sales.

Dennis is brutally honest about the requirements of become rich. It is not a walk in the park. It requires more than hard work or desire. All of those who become truly rich have a compulsion to do so. They also regard the accumulation of wealth as a game.

There are no shortcuts, Dennis insists, and the most important line in the book, its essence, is: "Getting rich comes from an attitude of mind. It isn't going to happen if things drift on pretty much the way they are right now." He explains that if you truly want to achieve extraordinary wealth, you must adopt an attitude of mind that makes getting that wealth the most important thing in your life.

As he explains, "Tunnel vision helps. Being a bit of a shit helps. A thick skin helps. Stamina is crucial, as is the capacity to work so hard that your best friends mock you, your lovers despair and the rest of your acquantances watch furtively from the sidelines, half in awe and half in contempt."

Also, he reminds readers that getting rich won't necessarily make them happy. This book is a fascinating read by a complex, one-of-a-kind character.

Satchel Paige was a legendary storyteller and one of the most entertaining pitchers in baseball history.

A tall, lanky fireballer, he was arguably the Negro leagues' hardest thrower, most colorful character and greatest gate attraction. He was not allowed to play in the "white" major leagues because of his skin color until 1948, when he was sold to Cleveland on his 42nd birthday, becoming the oldest player to make his major league debut, while helping the Indians win the pennant.

How to Keep Young, by Satchel Paige

1. Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
4. Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain't restful.
5. Avoid running at all times.
6. Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.

To see my photography, visit:

www.jeffreyluke.com

Thanks!