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Link love (Powered by late nights and tightlining)

nzmuse link love

While I await the return of Scandal, I’ve been busy bingeing on House of Lies. It’s super addictive, with its snappy dialogue and over the top characters. And the corporate awfulness! There are so many terrible bosses and coworkers portrayed on this show – are these people for real? The neurotics, the power hungry players, the earnest religious types, the mercurial, possibly bipolar boss … and the vomit-inducing, mealy-mouthed corporatespeak about company values and other such tosh.

Of the offices I’ve worked in (a typical professional services SME full of family men, then moving into media: a super femme office full of glamorous women, and two more in-between workplaces with a good mix of generally good sorts) most of my colleagues have been relatively normal, the only annoyances over the years being two mildly incompetent coworkers and one irritating slacker. Certainly none who made my life a total misery or made me dread work. Have I just been lucky? Is it one of the fringe benefits of non-corporate life?

Management consulting as a whole has always been a intriguing beast for me, and House of Lies suggests it may be just as BS as it sounds. (I know it’s a TV show, but it IS based on a book.)

Speaking of BS… check out this first person tale of greed and excess from a former Wall Streeter

Slate explains why ‘following your passion’ is a privilege afforded only to a certain class and actually devalues real work (thumbs up to that – see my previous posts Can we all realistically expect to love our jobs? and The job-you-wake-up-excited-for propaganda)

As I suspected, this is why so many Germans travel (just visit Auckland during summertime…)

Here’s a charming account of committing to rebuilding a broken hometown – Why I bought a house in Detroit for $500 – possibly the best thing Buzzfeed’s ever published

I also enjoyed Allergic to America, though it is a bit of an indictment on American food and work culture

A totally raw and touching post on Jezebel about dealing with depression through pregnancy and beyond

On the Billfold, a revealing interview with someone whose parents barely worked (they didn’t have to), which obviously affected her own outlook on careers and the meaning of a job

A new to me blog: The Constant Wanderings on the meaning of travel (“I had to travel to realise that I didn’t have to travel to travel”)

Ask a Manager shared a great example of how to demonstrate passion for your work in a job interview for non-bubbly types (*raises hand*)

A nifty guide to troubleshooting your WordPress blog, for when things go awry

Some basic rules and example layouts for DIY graphic design (it’s about wedding invitations but the same guidelines apply to all design in general IMO!)

Finally, I adored this post from Untemplater about the impermanence of everything in life.

Happy weekends!

10 thoughts on “Link love (Powered by late nights and tightlining)

  • Reply Liz January 25, 2014 at 13:18

    I love the graphic design link! I have so much to learn in this arena. I really want to make some fun graphics for my blog!

  • Reply Michelle January 25, 2014 at 18:51

    Allergic to America is the reason I’m becoming a Freelancer. I’m just lucky that I live in Colorado where people DO embrace leisure, and work/life balance. That being said, I refuse to continue working the way that I am . There is a better way for me! Happily, the Affordable Health Care act passed so I will have health insurance when I work for myself. I can’t wait!

  • Reply Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life January 26, 2014 at 03:48

    I just streamed my way through the entirety of the new Downton Abbey Season in the last few days.

  • Reply save. spend. splurge. January 26, 2014 at 14:33

    I pretty much opened every link you posted. Woo hoo! Reading!

  • Reply Jules January 26, 2014 at 23:52

    Germans were by far the largest contingent I met when travelling through Australasia. I’m still wondering why, in particular, there were so many young Germans i.e. not yet of working age.

    • Reply eemusings January 27, 2014 at 10:01

      NZ is full of German backpackers. They have a similar culture to NZ, taking time off to travel after school (though I think for us it’s now more commonly delayed till after uni). I definitely didn’t have the confidence or $$ to travel straight out of school. And as the link points out, Germany has a lot of leave legislated and it’s a wealthy country.

  • Reply Deia @ Nomad Wallet January 27, 2014 at 10:33

    It seems like we read some of the same websites.

    That Slate article about doing what you love really haunted me for a couple of days. I had a long think about that and actually wrote a blog post about it (set to publish in early February). As someone who’s both “doing what I love” and doing something else that’s more practical, I have very mixed feelings on the subject.

    That Billfold article is interesting too because I’m trying to do what the interviewee’s parents did, building passive income from rental properties. It’s fascinating what not having to work did to the parents. I think I now see passive income more as a way to let me do other things that may not immediately produce money (blogging, traveling & volunteering, building businesses), but who knows how it will corrupt me in the future. Heh.

    • Reply eemusings January 27, 2014 at 13:51

      My feelings are also mixed, which is why I lap up anything on the subject and have written about it a few times. I am doing what I love and am lucky that it has worked out very well but I certainly am not a blind follower of the ‘do you what love/follow your passion/the money will follow/you’ll never work a day in your life’ philosophy, and am also married to someone who’s never had an obvious passion to follow for a career.

  • Reply SP January 27, 2014 at 16:07

    Your link loves are my favorite, along with grumpy rumblings!

    I liked most of the first season of House of Lies, then it just got odd. I have a lot of thoughts on mgt consulting, as someone who formerly took the same position as you but now is working in it.

  • Reply Tonya@Budget and the Beach January 28, 2014 at 05:50

    I’m curious to read that detroit article when I get some time as it’s rather long. There is something exciting going on with the city and it’s nice to see some change.

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