Author Archives: Charlene Precious

I am re-reading Jim Collins’ Good to Great for the third time, with a fresh perspective every time. The more corporate experience I gain, the more meaningful and interesting this book gets. I am particularly drawn to his Level 5 Leadership theory. Level 5 leaders, as defined by Collins, is the antithesis of the great, egocentric leader. Above all else, they operate with genuine humility and that humility is defined by this burning, passionate, and obsessive ambition for the cause, the company, and the work. Not for themselves. They’re not looking to be glorified for their goodness. And then they have this utterly stoic will to make good on that ambition. They are defined as the type of leaders that enable an organization to make the leap from good to great. The book gives tangible examples of these types of leaders who have reinvented organizations and turned them into moneymaking machines. An excellent business book – pick up a copy. :)

From the little bit that I saw, I conclude that the Olympics closing ceremonies in London were quite elaborate and so much more than I would’ve expected (that is if I had cared enough to set expectations in the first place). It is exactly that thing that you didn’t care too much about but then found yourself hopelessly glued to it as you accidentally stumbled upon it. I caught the goosebump-inducing performances of Here Comes The Sun, Imagine, and I Am The Walrus. All things related to the Beatles give me the warm and fuzz. I wish I had tuned in just a bit longer to see the Spice Girls, Muse and Oasis performances (I am currently hooked on a show called Breaking Bad and that had a stronger pull at the time). Did they have Paul McCartney or Elton John perform? Ah, England has certainly bred some great talents into this world.

Here’s a larger version of a surf photo from the set of four in the previous post, as promised.

My surf photos began in the beautiful surf beaches in San Sebastian, Spain last summer. Since then, I’ve been waiting to set foot in another surf town to build on the collection. And that I did in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The best surfing photos will likely come from Australia though – I’ve heard that the waves in Australian beaches are unreal. Australia is on my travel hit list in the next 3 years, but Greece or Kenya first!

There is something about surfing photographs that is so nostalgic, despite not actually drawing anything from my past. The images have so much raw emotion.

I created this set last night for Etsy, called Surf Love. They are available as 8x8s individually or as 5x5s in a set. :) I’ll post the large version of each of the four photos in the following days.

I jumped the gun on a surfing photo. I got excited. Let’s break from the Circle of Life series and go back to it later. :) This is me at the Manuel Antonio Beach in Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio is considered a surf town and their beaches had glorious waves. The truth: I didn’t actually go surfing. I’d rather keep my legs, so I just borrowed some boy’s surfboard to take a poser photo. I wish it were a pink board though.

Baboon in deep thought. Do not disturb.

I am halfway through the Circle of Life series, I think we have about 7 more to go. Then we’ll move on to surfing photos. And helicopters. And parasails. And mountains. And beaches. And self portraits. And a million others.

Happy birthday to my little sister who is in Paris right now. Can I be in Paris, too? She has turned 18 and is about to enter one the most exciting chapters of life – The University Chapter! University was truly the greatest and I would relive those 4 years over and over and over until it was no longer possible. Not that it’s possible to begin with (lol).

My day goes like this: I wake up, go to work, study through my hour lunch, work again, drive home, process / ship Etsy orders, blog quickly, study again, then about an hour of downtime before bed. It’s non-stop and has been that way for a few months! I feel like a robot. I’ve resorted to avid text messaging to keep in touch with people I love. Face time is scarce with schedules like this. :(

I have to study now but I do want to say that I love the detail on these animals. Look how intricate it is! These iguanas were hanging out in a local woman’s backyard. No big deal.

A little chubby furball bird on a barbed wire.

You have no idea how much I’d rather throw my head on a pillow and take an amazing nap after this post than open my books to study. Such a daily struggle. But we all know that the nap, no matter how inviting and rejuvenating, would leave me with such loathsome remorse upon my waking, therefore it’s smarter to just overcome the temptation and hit the lovely books.

Crocodile Rock by Elton John.

There were dozens of crocodiles sunbathing in the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica. This croc had his jaw hanging open like this for hours as if waiting to be fed a good meal. Yum yum.

Remember, we’re not in a zoo or a showroom. These animals are in their natural habitat and you see them while you’re cruising on the road or strolling along on a street. It’s amazing really.

These spiders are everywhere on plants in Costa Rica. They look like Terminators and they build terminator webs that are so strong, if you tug on them, they don’t break. You’d have to tug pretty hard and by then, the spider would’ve taken a bite out of you.