On Praise and Condemnation
For a mind ignited and roaring with purpose neither praise nor condemnation is useless. The former soothes the winded face in fore. The latter whitens the thrust in rear with visions of surprised eyes...
View ArticleOn Will
I keep thinking how much work, or family life, or any attempt to impose will on the world, is like those guys who demolish buildings by setting charges at strategic places and timings. Except you get...
View ArticleCourtesy Terrorism
I don't feel ready to present this concept well, but I've thought about it for years and need to get something down, something started. This story of garbage etiquette inspired me. The idea is: wise...
View ArticleFast,True, Easy — Pick Two
All questions include an implicit contract. If the contract were explicit, the questioner would choose what kind of answer they wanted: briefcompletecomprehensiblePick two. For example the question...
View ArticleWhy there are no good pick-up lines
There are no good pick-up lines. There are just good people you got to know suddenly. You only call them "pick-up" lines when they don't. Just like you only call it advertising when it's poorly...
View ArticleArticle 17
Funny how mindless (e.g. conformity) means you don't think, thoughtful (e.g. gift) means you care, careless (e.g. email attachment) means you need to resend, and resentful means you very much do mind.
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The Bet
Always a surprise. Losing this bet with myself is a boon I understand little and appreciate less. Setting: a tough problem lingers and bleeds away my righteous flow. Frustrated, I eventually remember...
View ArticleStrictly Optional Customer Service
(From an ongoing discussion with a particularly shrewd customer, I've devised a new customer preference question, to keep pace with this modern, networked, customer-righteous age.) How would you like...
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On News
All news tends to distort, and intimate news distorts perversely. Great storytellers are almost always liars. (with apologies to Lord Acton, who said “All power tends to corrupt and absolute power...
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The Russian Roulette Fallacy
You cannot judge the wisdom of a decision using information unavailable at the time the choice was made. Winning (surviving) a round of Russian Roulette doesn't mean you weren't a moron for playing. I...
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Things I like whether they cause cancer or not
Inspired by Gwen: breathingfocused conversation when at least one party tries to understand morefailing to find the end of a conversation for good reasons, e.g.spawning new...
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Double Irony
Making fun of people who ridicule is at least intellectually dangerous. If you care about being mistaken for the wrong team, that is. PunditMom raises some interesting questions about the, shall we say...
View ArticleQuestions That Time Out
QuestionTimeoutDefault AnswerDo you want coffee this morning?12 secYesAnybody here?10 secNoHey, how about we watch *this* movie?7 secNo(in a horror movie) Honey are you all right?6 secNo, I'm deadNeed...
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Bluffing The Time Ninja
My new time management trick: pretend I'm already an expert at choosing what to do. That I always know the optimum way to spend time; and I'm always doing exactly that until inventing the next optimal...
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SARAH PALIN'S SECURITY CLEARANCE
(Below is a respectful and good-natured reply to a [slightly rearranged and numbered] post by John F. Wear on the Marine Open Discussion Forum on military.com, originally written by Tom W., and first...
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Cracking Happiness
I recall someone once drawing an analogy between writing a paper for a grade and cracking a combination lock. It's apt for so many quests: money, affection, understanding, music, health, goodwill....
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The Most Important Government Job
The most important job in the U.S. government now: Secret Service. And I do not mean the counterfeiting guys. Though I realize they are busy too.
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Mouse Pad Elves
((First written 12/13/2009, then hid on the shame shelf, behind the cringe jar. Dusted off months later, long after all the old orders were filled along with many new ones.)) It feels fantastic to be...
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We Be Social
From the Human Mirror mission, ©Improv Everywhere Humans are social animals. Glaring evidence is in the fact that subways work. What creatures can you imagine packing into a metal tube, approaching...
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