The summer, for as long as I can possibly remember, has always been a dead time for me creatively. Whether its the hot weather, too much or if its just the time when my creative flow feels like taking a vacation, I don’t know but it leaves me fruitless summer long.

This is why I look forward to fall with bated breath and anticipation.

At the same time, I’ve noticed that since I left college over a year ago, that I haven’t been as sharp mentally as I once was. In college I was constantly reading and studying for various classes; I stayed sharp because I had to be on top of it.

But since I left college, I don’t have to read or write reports. I dont have to do any bit of the academic necessity for class.

In turn, I’ve noticed a bit of a mental dulling. I don’t have the same vernacular I used to have.  I don’t talk in quite the same way. I’ve gotten dull; my mindset and track is becoming too simplified.

Solutions
To battle both issues concurrently, I went to Borders on Saturday and looked for what I hoped would be just the thing to battle this chronic ineptitude. After spending what was literally hours in the store going through business book after business book, I left with Stimluated! and Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide...neither of which are particularly business books.

Stimulated! describes itself as a survival book for the creative professional. I was sold on the fact that it has colorful pages and describes a lot of the situations I find myself in currently. If it can help, if I can read this one through I’ll be out of this rut shortly.

Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide is about how web 2.0 companies (Flickr, Google, etc) makes money, how, what they did and what they should be doing. Given that a majority of my work is centered in making money and working with web 2.0 technologies, it made perfect sense. I’m a few pages into this one; I just need to stick with it.

I’m honestly not a book reader; I have ADD when it comes to books. But, given where I am, given the recent layouts Gannett wide; I need improve my value for myself, let alone my company.