19 days to go...

I enjoyed a shopping and relaxing day with some work in the evening. I found some colorful batik shirts for my upcoming life break in Bali, and also some nice books: Treasures of Bali – a guide to museums in Bali, by Richard Mann; The Best Half of Life – make your second half the best half, by David Niven; and Mind Mapping – kick start your creativity and transform your life, by Tony Buzan.

I also searched the beautiful Kinokuniya bookshop in Plaza Senayan for a Japanese manga book Forbidden Dance, Volume 3, requested by my daughter as a birthday gift for her class mate. Alas, only Volume 4 was available, and she had that one already.

Jakarta had some respite from flooding, but large areas of the city were still affected, and power and telephone outages continued to cause havoc. The hotel where I am staying has filled to capacity with flood “refugees” who escaped their posh but flooded or powerless houses until normalcy returns. And as I write this just past midnight, the rains have started again, which might cause further floods.

I had several good ideas about carrying forward my work, especially to create more knowledge contributions. My writing for work is getting better, and I’ll continue to focus on more writing.

This evening I received news that a friend and colleague had passed away after a year-long battle with cancer of the esophagus. I was sorry I could not join the cremation ceremony. Frank inspired me in many ways, with his humor, music, love of life, and dedication to innovative work. I will miss him.

Now it’s time for a good rest.

Photograph: The elusive manga book (top). Art can be anywhere – inside the new Senayan City mall (middle). Frank playing the cymbalon when I saw him last (bottom).