USC in the foreground, downtown in the background . . .
Westminster Pugs
Moving Away from Joy
Behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman suggests that we have two selves: an experiencing self and a remembering self. . . . Your experiencing self lives in the present and is happiest spending time around people you like. . . .
The remembering self cares about story, and about appearances. . . .
Your remembering self cares about money and mobility deeply. Why? No one wants to be remembered as the person who “didn’t do anything with their life.” Getting rich and moving around a lot adds dramatic, tangible plot-points to your story, which comforts your remembering self greatly. But your experiencing self can easily be less happy. What if you are unable to turn your money into people you enjoy spending time with? What if you move away from the people and places that bring you joy?
Bowing for Cash
My son’s half-Asian — his mom is Thai — and he feels like he’s missing out on an important Asian tradition.
“On Chinese New Year,” he says, “Chinese kids get wads of cash. Koreans have a holiday where kids go to relatives’ houses, bow to people and get wads of cash.”
He mentions a Korean friend of his who raked in 180 bucks the last time this holiday rolled around.
“Why isn’t there a Thai holiday where kids bow to people and get wads of cash?” he asks.
“Isn’t that how pretty much every day goes for you?” I ask. “Without the bowing, I mean. Handing you wads of cash though — that part is in full effect.”
He Said, She Said
I know I shouldn’t say this about one of my own speakers, but I thought Sarah Silverman was god-awful.
Kudos to @TEDChris for making TED an unsafe haven for all! You’re a barnacle of mediocrity on Bill Gates’ asshole.
Happy Valentine’s Day
How Can I Help You?
How can I help you succeed? How can I help you ask strong questions, take wise risks and deliver great content? How can I help you prosper? Most importantly, how can I help you learn and make new connections? How can I help you serve the larger group, of which we are both a part?
Twitter: 2010-02-10
- "I thought the more money I had the happier I would become, but it was not the case." http://bit.ly/d8yDMt #
Bon Voyage, Captain!
‘Deadliest Catch’ captain Phil Harris dies at age 53
Never saw his TV show but he was great as the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book!
♫ Look for the (clap) Bare Ne-cess-ities . . . ♫
Say hi to Bing Crosby in hell!
The Eternal Footman Held My Coat and Snickered
Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a longtime fixture on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending, died after complications from gallbladder surgery, according to his office. He was 77.
The Democratic congressman recently underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to remove his gallbladder. The procedure was “routine minimally invasive surgery,” but doctors “hit his intestines,” a source close to the late congressman told CNN.
OMG I HAD THAT SAME OPERATION I COULD HAVE DIED!!!
On a lighter note, how ironic is it that the president loses a pro-ObamaCare vote due to medical error in a government-run hospital?
Berman Leaving Bristol?
[Chris] Berman could go all the way to DirectTV or the NFL Network when his ESPN contract expires? Its probably just a negotiating ploy, but it sure would be neat to see him exclusively on channels my TV doesn’t have.
There is No Such Thing as Information Overload
Looking over my notes from an Edward Tufte course . . .
There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design.
- Example: Google News presents hundreds of links on a single page and no one complains about information overload.
- Example: The financial section of the newspaper presents thousands of numbers and no one complains about information overload.
Saints 31, Colts 17
OK, but I’m more of a college football fan so here’s a picture of Reggie Bush at USC:
Books Etc.
Thanks to the annual Super Bowl Sunday Buy One Get One Free sale at Books Etc. in Laguna Hills, the works of Bellow, Borges, Bukowski, Brautigan, Cheever, Eco, Grace Paley, Dennis Potter, Pynchon, Robbe-Grillet, Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe have found their way onto my bookshelf for a capital outlay of only 32 dollars American.
If I Had a Toyota
If I had a Toyota, I’d drive it to work one morning, crash it right into the front lobby of the building, get out, say good morning to everyone, and blame the whole thing on a faulty accelerator, just to break up the monotony of daily living . . .
Twitter: 2010-02-04
- RT @sportsguy33: To honor the Mike Dunleavy era, I just botched my drive-thru order at Arby's, then blamed House and the drive thru lady. #
So Long, Thrillseeker!
Sharks kill man kite-surfing off south Florida
Some people say life is too short. I say if you’ve got time for inane activities like kite-surfing, your life has already gone on way too long . . .
Twitter: 2010-02-03
- Does this city make my butt look big? – http://goo.gl/N72i #
- Sign of the times: I noticed this morning that the newspaper racks (LA Times, OC Register) in front of LA Fitness have been removed #
Pride and Prejudice
As my son comes downstairs for dinner, he says, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune –”
I finish it with him: “– must be in want of a wife.”
“We spent 45 minutes in class today analyzing that one sentence,” he says.
“It’s a very famous sentence,” I say. “The next sentence will probably go faster.”
Deterrent Effect
A Columbus man has been charged with killing a teen who was out with friends throwing eggs at cars on the Hilltop three years ago.
In other news, Columbus police report a significant decrease in the number of people throwing eggs at cars.