Blog Tag: Life
Phil Days are Here Again!
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Phil Days are here again! That magical time of year when it's appropriate to give me gifts and cash, and when ladies can kiss me to increase fertility. It seems they come earlier and earlier each year!
Instead of gifts this year, I want action! I want YOU to take action, then comment below about what you did! Here are some suggestions:
- Make a gift to the Main Cancer Foundation in memory of my good friend Wilfred Harrington.
- Go to your local blood blank or red cross and donate blood, platelets, or plasma.
- Volunteer time at your local Boys and Girls club.
- Find a fun-run/walk and walk in it for any good cause such as, domestic violence, lymphoma, cancer.
- Give money to someone who is walking/running in one of these events.
- Hug your spouse/child/parent.
Don't limit yourself. Think of something awesome you can do to make the world a better place, and go for it! I'm looking forward to reading what you do!
Being Happy
Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It simply means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!
Unknown
This Is The True Joy In Life
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This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
George Bernard Shaw
Give Plasma
3 Comments | Latest by: Matt Gray | Add A Comment! »»
I gave plasma earlier today. It made me sleepy later, but I was OK over all. I encourage you to contact your local community blood center and make a donation, especially plasma or platelets. Chemotherapy patients especially need platelets.
Update: Here's the link for Community Blood Center of South Florida. There's a link on there to the America's Blood Centers too.
You can dooo eeet!
Last Lecture of Randy Pausch Availible on DVD
The Last Lecture of Randy Pausch is being released on DVD by Carnegie Mellon. I highly recommend getting a copy, or clicking through to the links of the video online. Highly worth the time!
New Year's Resolutions and a Cute Sentence
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To the people who say, "I don't make New Year's Resolutions because I don't think you should make a change in your life on an arbitrary schedule..." (I'm looking at YOU, Jon) I say: "Pish Posh!" and "Get on the bandwagon!".
Making a resolution does not prevent one from making a change at other times of the year. As such, this list may seem like small items, but they're just the latest in my "test and tweak" approach:
- Stop buying the 2 things I spend the most money on: Books and Music. I have vowed Michelle that I will literally stop buying books, and that I will at least limit my music purchases dramatically.
- One exception, which is a motivator. I give myself full license to spend any and all profits from my own outside work - not counting my regular salary at My Job - on books that I want. It's a little carrot. These would include things like AdSense on my sites and people paying for web services I'm creating.
- Finish all the books I have not finished, or started. Another reason not to buy new books, I have books I haven't even read yet.
- Get better at Spanish.
- Refocus my exercise efforts, but not try to kill myself like I was last year, due to a recent visit with my doc and some concern over my EKG.
- 10 Minute Shits: self explanatory.
What are your resolutions? You could comment below!
I read this from the Humanized Weblog and had to smile:
The thing about an identity is that it’s supposed to be unique, so allowing one identity to repesent [sic] multiple identities is as baffling as this sentence.
It's the "breaking the 4th wall of writing". Cute.
Do You Think About Eating The Peach?
From another great blog entry by Tim Ferriss:
"Let's say that you want to eat a peach for dessert one evening, but you decide to only allow yourself this luxury after washing the dishes. If, while washing the dishes, all you think of is eating the peach, what will you be thinking of when you eat the peach?"
I'd like to think I would be thinking about the peach, however, I rarely am.
Best Part of Story
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Oh! I forgot the best part of the story. After Corky told me I'm an inspiration, I said to him,
"I'm glad I can expire you!"
It was a slip and the word came out wrong. What a slip, though!
The Last Lecture of Dr. Randy Pausch
I'd like to share with you The Last Lecture of Dr. Randy Pausch.
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
It's a really moving talk. It's an hour and twenty-five minutes long, but well worth it. Listen to the whole thing; he sums it all up in the last two minutes.
Life Story and Goals
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Life Story
Some time last month, in a fit of inspiration, I sat down and banged out the short version of my Life Story. It's got a little bit in it about how I freaked out over Christianity recently. I know some of you were curious.
Yes, I left a LOT out. I may add to it later. What's your life story?
Goals
I was reminded while re-reading The 4-Hour Workweek
My main objective in bringing that up was to ask you: What are your specific goals? What do you want to accomplish before the end of the year? The month?
Until I'm Done Growing Up
From Growing Up:
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I will not die until after I'm all done growing up."
"Good."
I'm with the kid on this one. I don't want to die until I'm done growing up.
Absurdity
I try to look for the absurdity in every day life,
but sometimes feel as though it is a redundant search.
Said by me, this year, I believe... Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Perfectly Horrible Mistakes
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Michelle and I kid a lot. We have that kind of "I'm joking but I'm not" way of saying things to each other that makes it easy to say the real things. If I can call her a bitch and she can say I'm a fat asshole, and we can still smile at each other, the thing that needs to be said is easier to get out.
But earlier, we just "jokingly" broke-up - like in a mock-anger way. Then I thought about it and got sad and thoughtful. I'm going to hug her and be sweet a lot for a while. OK, honey?
"That is my principal objection to life, I think: It's too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes."
Kurt Vonnegut
Planning and Living
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An old saying on my mind lately is:
Plan as if you will live for 100 years,
Live as if you will die tomorrow.
And, I'm reminded by Josh Rouse that it might all end in a Car Crash tomorrow.
I got so much left to give
So much left to live for
To think that it's finally over now... I should have called my family
All their generosity
Just how much it meant to me
("She's Spanish, I'm American", the Josh Rouse record linked above, reminds me of mi caliente Cubana and me, a little bit)
Virtual Fortune for Virtual Goods
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I'm a web a guy. I make stuff that goes on the web. I've been doing this for going on 8 or 9 years now. My "life's work" is web sites.
However, my life's work is simply 1's and 0's on a piece of hard drive some where. One big magnet could wipe all of it out very easily. Granted, the magnet would have to be used in several places and take into account all the backups that exist of various things, but it's possible. No hard-goods exist for all my efforts. All of the goods I've produced are virtual.
I get paid real money for doing this work, but after direct deposit and cashing checks, etc. that money, too, ends up on a hard drive somewhere. I hope to hell they have a backup! I view my accounts through online banking. It's a virtual fortune (and it's no fortune, mind you) for all intents and purposes.
Boil it all down, and I make web pages, then get paid for them and look at the money on a web page.
If I made ice sculpture, it would last as long, but be prettier. It makes me want to become a carpenter who only barters.
Pain and Suffering
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Read this somewhere the other day, can't remember just now... I like it.
"Pain is inevitable;
Suffering is optional"
I think I'm remembering it wrong, but you get the idea. If I find the actual quote and author even, I'll post again.
This one means a lot to me, because - those who know me will attest - I went through a lot of physical pain in my late teenage years with all the problems and surgeries I had on my knee and ankle. For me it's a good reminder about having a good attitude, which I always seem to forget.
Learn When To Forget
In a recent blog entry, Maeda's Simplicity quotes Descartes:
To live is to learn to forget.
Then almost apologizes for writing it down.
Learning to forget is one thing. Learning when to forget is key, however. I've read a lot of stuff about organization in the past few years (couldn't tell, could ya?). Learning how and where to remember has been key for me. Do I put this in a note in a folder on my computer, or do I put this in a reminder which will text message my phone at a certain time?
Descartes didn't say to live was to forget, though. That's what I'm trying to say. Somethings I will never want to forget.
