45 days: 4

• I've been using the Sleep Cycle app for my alarm clock lately. I'm a bit skeptical about its ability to assess the quality of my sleep, but I really like the way it goes off when I'm closest to wakefulness (and therefore ready to wake up anyhow) and the music it uses as an alarm is very pleasant and soothing. It has a pretty broad selection of alarm tones to pick from in case you don't like the default.
• I've been reading The Ape in the Corner Office: Understanding the Workplace Beast in All of Us and finding it very interesting. On one hand, some of the information has affected how I interact with my co-workers and bosses. On the other hand, it has also made me feel better about past interactions that I didn't understand. For example, there have been times when I've reacted angrily and later felt bad about seeming "out of control". Getting a better understand of the competitive social dynamics of the situation and the functioning of the suspicious, ambitious mammal brain embedded in that social context makes, while not excusing emotional reactions, makes them more understandable.
• "We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." -- attributed to Abraham Lincoln
• "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimists see the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Winston Churchill