Photos of Abby in Singapore

I hope you're doing well. Well, it was too ambitious of me to try to post something every week. The weekends just seem to fly by. So, I'll try to post something every other week.

Melissa uploaded some of the photo albums that she took of Abby during her trip to Singapore to visit her relatives. Please take a look (you need to have a free Snapfish account):

Uncle Anthony's Home

Abby n Cousin Claudia

Abby n Cousins

Grandpa's Home

Neighbor's Home

Aunt Nic's Home

Singapore 1

Singapore 2

-Josh

My Daily Evening Ritual With Abby

When I was out in the Bay Area, I also had a chance to eat dinner with Charles and Genevieve Owyang, and their daughter Juliana, and Angela Lih Chang and her two sons, Tobey and Elias. Charles, Genevieve and Angela are friends of mine from BCEC. It was really great to catch up with them, and see their kids. I guess I'm now at the stage in life where all my friends from college all have young kids.

One of the things I told them at dinner is my nightly ritual with Abby to put her to bed. Melissa and Abby just came back to New York from a long vacation in Singapore. My nightly ritual with Abby is a bit out of sync now, but I hope to get back to this regular routine soon.

Usually, by the time I get home from work, Melissa will have already given Abby a bath and fed her some baby food. After playing with her for a bit, we give her a bottle of warm milk. At around 8:30 PM, we say good night to mommy, and I carry Abby upstairs. I sit her down in my lap and I read her a chapter in a bible story book written especially for fathers and daughters called "Little Girls Bible Storybook for Fathers and Daughters", by Carolyn Larsen.

After the bible story, I carry Abby in my arms and sing the "ABC" song, while pointing to each letter of the alphabet on a large poster of the alphabets. I then say, "How do you spell Abby? (point at Abby)" "It's A-B-B-Y", and point to each letter on the poster. "How do you spell Daddy (point at myself)?" "It's D-A-D-D-Y", and point at the letters on the poster. "How do you spell Mommy (and point to each letter on the poster)". "How do you spell Jesus (and point to the letters).

Then I say, "Daddy loves you (I kiss Abby on the checks)", "Mommy loves you (kiss Abby again)", "Jesus loves you (kiss Abby a third time)".

After this, I turn off the lights in the room, leaving only a night light. I sing to Abby the song, "Jesus Loves Me This I Know", a few times while I rock her to sleep. I then pray for Abby, that God will watch over her, protect her against any accidents, sickness or disease. I pray that Abby will know God's love, and that Melissa and I will be good parents, and make the right decisions. I thank God for blessing us with her. I may also summarize a topical prayer for Abby found in "The Power of a Praying Parent", by Stormie Omartian. (I think I have all of her different books on prayer).

I conclude by singing to Abby the Doxology, which is "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen." Then I put Abby into her crib. Hopefully by this point, she's asleep. If she's not, I sit with her for a while until she falls asleep.

When Melissa and Abby was away on vacation, one of the things I missed the most was this nightly routine with Abby.

If you have a nightly routine with your child, I would love to hear what it is. Please share it with us!

Invitation to My New Blog

May 29, 2006

I hope you had a great Memorial Day! A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Bay area to visit some clients. I also had a chance to meet up with several friends each night for dinner. At one of the dinners, I met up with Zhiyi Yu, a classmate of mine from college, who is now a senior executive at openBC, and her husband, Eric Ly, a serial entrepreneur, who is now working on his next startup. Kevin Chen, a friend of mine from BCEC and his girlfriend, Wei Kuan, was also at dinner.

One of the things we talked about at dinner was the weekly emails that I used to send to my friends and acquaintances for six years, from 1996 to 2002. It all started back in December 1996, when I decided to forward a piece of humor to some friends in my small group. Over time, I started to add more and more friends to the distribution list. In addition to just a piece of wholesome humor, I started to add other components to the weekly email, such as an edifying story, a thought provoking question, or a mental puzzle. I also usually start the email with a short paragraph summarizing what I did that week, where I traveled to, etc. I actually looked forward to writing my weekly emails, because it gave me a chance to reflect on my week, and keep a record of my activities. It was a kind of a short diary.

When the whole blog phenomenon started, I thought about my weekly emails. In a sense my weekly emails were a blog. I thought about putting all my weekly emails into a new blog, but I decided that it would take too much effort. When I finally started to write a blog, I didn't just want to write a blog about my week like most people who write blogs, so I decided to focus my blog on networking for career advancement, called Altimeter.

At dinner, everyone encouraged me to put my weekly emails into a new blog. So, that's the reason for this blog, Abby Li's Dad. I have put all my weekly emails into this blog as archives. Going forward, I will try to write something on a weekly basis, as a reflection of being Abby's dad, Melissa's husband, or as an executive at RichFX, etc. I will probably focus this blog on fatherhood. So, if you are a parent, I especially welcome your thoughts and advice on how to be a good and Godly parent.

Merry Christmas and Our Updated Contact Info

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! It’s been a while since my last personal email. Melissa and I have moved back to New York. Our contact info is below.

I finally found some time to upload pictures from our trip to Morocco last year:

Morocco – Josh and Melissa

http://community.webshots.com/album/90213293DobTqf

Volubilus, Roman Ruins

http://community.webshots.com/album/90216349cTPaDf

Rabat

http://community.webshots.com/album/237001158SkYgCs

Fez 1

http://community.webshots.com/album/237030127jfSkcM

Fez 2

http://community.webshots.com/album/237032617uHJWab

Fez 3

http://community.webshots.com/album/237036330gZiISq

Meknes

http://community.webshots.com/album/237043008aTWbFS

If you enjoy business networking, I encourage you to join www.linkedin.com and link to me. Just enter my email: joshli2@gmail.com into your address book and send me a request to link.

Take care and keep in touch!

-Josh and Melissa

P.S. Remember the real meaning of CHRIST-mas!

A Few Recommendations

Hi,

Now back in New York, I've started to reconnect again to some friends. A
few of them have new ventures that they are starting, so I'm helping to
spread the word.

A friend of mine, Julia Hsu, is starting her own private ophthalmology
practice in Flushing, Queens. She graduated from MIT undergrad and Harvard
Medical School. Here's her office contact info:

Julia Hsu, M.D.
Ophthalmology
136-36 39th Avenue, 6th Floor
Flushing, NY 11354
718-888-9785
____________________

Another friend of mine, Linda Cheung's husband, Peter Chang, is starting
his own private practice in internal medicine in Manhattan, on the upper
East Side on July 1st, 2003. Here's his office contact info:

Peter K. Chang, MD
Internal Medicine & Gastroenterology
12 East 86th Street
New York, NY 10028
Tel: 212-744-6888
Fax: 212-861-1829
____________________

Another friend of mine, Cynthia Cheng, is starting her own wine tasting /
recommendation service. If you are interested in planning a personal or
business event, and would like assistance with the wine selection and menu
matching, you can check out her website. She also organizes monthly wine
tastings. Here's her contact info:

cynthia sin-yi cheng
cyn-et-vin
212-580-1949
thia@cynetvin.com
www.cynetvin.com
____________________

Years ago, while I was in business school, there were several Internet
based networking websites, such as PlanetAll and SixDegrees. Those have
since been bought out or folded. I was just introduced to a new online
networking website called Friendster. Here's their email for inviting
friends to join:

Josh Li has invited you, Josh, to join Josh's personal and private
community at Friendster, where you and Josh can network with each other's
friends.

Friendster is an online community that connects people through networks of
friends for dating or making new friends.

Friendster is for people who are single, people in relationships, and
anyone who wants to make new friends or help their friends meet new people.

You can use Friendster to:

* Meet new people to date, through your friends and their friends
* Make new friends
* Help your friends meet new people

Once you join Friendster, you will be automatically connected to your
friend Josh, and all of Josh's friends.

(If you are already a Friendster member, you were probably invited with a
different email address than you are using with Friendster.)

Click below to join Friendster:
http://www.friendster.com/join.jsp?invite=789591869241

or, http://www.friendster.com/join.jsp?invite=478639

So, even if you are married, if you are interested in networking with other
people, you should check out this website.

Another "online community" website to check out is: www.thesquare.com. It
is for folks who attended some of the top schools in the U.S. This group
hosts networking activities in major cities such as New York, LA, San
Francisco, Boston, Chicago, etc. They also have job postings. Right now,
there is a trivia contest between the alumni of the various schools.
____________________

Finally, here's a QUOTE OF THE DAY, forwarded by Adam Ritter:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've
failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
- Michael Jordan

Have a great summer!

-Josh.

P.S. By the way, many of you have always wondered how I write these emails
addressed to you individually. Well, when I was doing my own startup, I
bought this piece of software called Mail King. It allows me to create
these "personalized" emails.

Greetings from Josh Li

Hi,

I hope you are doing well. It's been a long time since my last personal
email. Yesterday was my last day at Avery Dennison. I've really enjoyed
my projects in Singapore and Cleveland, but it is time to move on. I
learned a great deal, and worked with some very awesome people. I will
really miss them.

I'll be moving back to New York City on Saturday, 6/14/03. Here's my new
contact info:

[Address deleted]

Email address: joshli@yahoo.com
My permanent email address: joshli@post.harvard.edu will still work, but
I'm trying to migrate all of my emails to my Yahoo account.

I'll be back in New York for almost two weeks. Then I will go traveling
through Spain, Portugal, and Singapore with my wife Melissa. She is
currently studying Spanish full time in Salamanca, Spain, and enjoying her
studies. She is really into the Spanish language and culture.

When I return to New York in mid-August, I will start my job search. As of
now, our first choice city for my job search is Boston. I've always had
very fond memories of the 10 years I spent in Boston, and it would be neat
to work back there. However, we are open to where ever God leads us.

I would love to hear from you, what you've been up to, whether you're now
married, have kids, started a new job, moved, etc. I also look forward to
meeting up with you in New York, Boston or Singapore this summer.

Melissa and I went on vacation in Spain for a few days before she started
school. Here are some of our pictures:

Toledo Spain
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74408850IwXJZD

Toledo Josh & Mel
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74416698EDUqhO

Avila Spain
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74412549FLRxuN

Avila Josh & Mel
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74419732HYrVuL

Salamanca Spain
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74415395iNSxgN

Salamanca Josh & Mel
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-56281135-nbZk-album/74438837eOJBdU

Melissa and I loved Toledo, which is about 1 hour south of Madrid by train.
It is a city on a hill, surrounded on three sides by a river. The narrow
streets are wonderful to walk through. There are many shops selling all of
kinds swords, armor, mirrors, ornaments, etc. Since my fencing days in
high school, I've always had a fascination with beautiful swords, so I
bought a really nice one. The top tourist attractions are the cathedral
and castle.

In Toledo, we stayed at the Parador Toledo, which is located on a hill
overlooking the city. It is definitely worth it to pay a bit more to get a
room with a panoramic view of the city. To find more information about the
chain of Spanish National Parador lodgings, check out this website:

www.parador.es

You can get some great discounts if you are less than 30 years old (which
we were not).

Avila is west of Madrid, about half way between Salamanca and Madrid. Its
claim to fame is its beautiful, intact medieval walls and towers. We
walked all around the walls, and took pictures from the walls and outside
the walls. We stayed at the Parador in Avila, but it was not as nice as
the one in Toledo.

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Avila, right outside the walls.
The food was surprisingly authentic and good, and the waitress treated us
extremely well since we spoke to her in Chinese.

Salamanca is west of Avila, almost to the border with Portugal. The
University of Salamanca dates way back in the medieval times, and at one
point, was one of the top universities in the world. Students from all
over the world flock to Salamanca to study. The main tourist attractions
are the central plaza (Plaza Mayor), the cathedral, and the University.
Outside of the old part of the city center is a relatively modern city,
with all kinds of shops and apartment buildings.

If you ever visit Spain, and only have time to see one of these three
cities, definitely go to Toledo.

When I get back from my summer trip, I'll post more pictures and send out
an email.

Have a great summer and keep in touch!

-Josh.

Recommendations for Books

It’s been a while since my last email. I’ve been very busy at work these days, as the Logistics Manager here in Cleveland, for Avery Dennison’s Automotive Products Division. Sorry about not keeping in better touch.

One of the things that I enjoyed doing in my past emails was to recommend movies, activities, places to visit, and interesting books.

Well, three of my former classmates from Harvard have written books. So, I would like to recommend that you take a look. Perhaps someday maybe I will write a book. On what topic, I don’t know yet.

Here are the three books:

1) A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, by Darshak Sanghavi

2) Vault Guide to Conquering Corporate America for Women and Minorities, by Susan Tien

3) The Angel with One Hundred Wings: A Tale from the Arabian Nights, by Daniel Horsh

_____________________________________

1) A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, by Darshak Sanghavi.

Quite a large number of you are either expecting or have young kids. Here’s book you don’t want to miss. Darshak (MD in Pediatrics) wrote in his email:

Capping three years of hard work, my book, A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, will be available at booksellers nationwide beginning January 8th. It's written for the general public, but has particular interest for parents, grandparents, health care workers, and anyone interested in children's health and welfare. Through 8 chapters titled after body parts (e.g. Lungs, Heart, Blood, etc.), the book is a deeply personal tour of the child's body, through the stories of children dealing with illness. It explores anatomy, health, politics, public policy, religion, controversial issues such as child abuse, and many other areas in a dramatic and readable style.

Check out:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0805067248

http://www.amazon.com

The book has been well received so far. It is:

* Endorsed by the parenting editor of Good Morning America, Anne Murphy

* Recommended by Child magazine as a "Best Buy" among books about children

* Excerpted at length in the February 2003 issue of Working Mother magazine

* Likely going to be featured on NPR's All Things Considered next month..

Early reviewers have said:

"Outstanding."-- Library Journal (starred review)

"Sanghavi seems to be the pediatrician all parents wish they had." -- Booklist

"An example of expert storytelling-a true page-turner...Deserves a wide audience." -- BookPage

"An elucidation of the human child's organs, the how and why of illnesses that strike them, and such related issues as circumcision, vaccination, abortion, learning disabilities, and child abuse-all enriched by the author's personal memories...Heartwarming...Appealing and informative." --Kirkus Reviews

_____________________________________

2) Vault Guide to Conquering Corporate America for Women and Minorities, by Susan Tien

Every year many new college and professional school grads find their first jobs as entry-level employees in Corporate America. The client service industry in particular - management consulting, investment banking, law, and accounting - employs a new army of young worker bees every fall season. Lured by the opportunity to make a great deal of money and gain a broad education in the business world, recent grads often enter the corporate environment with neither technical skills to perform their job nor understanding of the written and unwritten rules of Corporate America to guide their behavior. They simply expect their new employers to train them completely.

We wrote this book for the benefit of this latter group of new hires with no insight to the inner workings of the corporate world. The advice we present comes from our personal experiences and those of our friends and colleagues. We are presenting everything we wish we had known our first day on the job.

Check out:

https://www.vault.com/bookstore/order.jsp

_____________________________________

3) The Angel with One Hundred Wings: A Tale from the Arabian Nights, by Daniel Horsh.

Here’s what another classmate, Dara Meyers, wrote in her email describing the book:

Hello and happy holidays to all,

I am writing to tell you that our friend and fellow Hunterite [my high school in NYC], Dan Horch, has a novel coming out. It should be available in stores tomorrow. It's called "The Angel with One Hundred Wings." I read an earlier draft of it- and I would highly recommend it. I love the book. If you don't believe me, you can read on-line reviews at Amazon and barnesandnoble.com. Here's a link:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=0312284187

Impressive, no? It really is that good.

Congratulations to Dan...