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101 Things

  1. Host someone on Airbnb
  2. Participate in Tomatina in Spain
  3. Bike around Amsterdam
  4. Tour the Guinness factory
  5. Camp on Angel Island
  6. Cook an all-Indian dinner for 4
  7. Cook an all-Thai dinner for 4
  8. Hike once a month on a new trail in 2013
  9. Read 24 books in 2013
  10. Take my family on a cruise
  11. Visit Wuhan and tour China
  12. Bake a loaf of bread
  13. Make pizza dough and bake pizza
  14. Go a month without watching TV
  15. Write a poem
  16. Write a short story
  17. Visit Morocco
  18. Visit Istanbul
  19. Visit the Farallon Islands
  20. Go whale watching
  21. Visit Thailand
  22. Visit Vietnam
  23. Dine at French Laundry
  24. Perfect a roast chicken
  25. Perfect a chicken noodle soup made from roast chicken
  26. Take a knife sharpening class
  27. Create a signature cookie
  28. Improve relationship with brother
  29. Call parents every week
  30. Learn how to properly toast in 10 languages

  • 5 months ago
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Lessons from David Brook’s “Life Reports” essays of people over 70

In October, NY Times op-ed columnist, David Brooks, put out a call for readers over 70 to send him essay reports of their life so far, what they did well or not so well, and lessons learned. Those essays have become this great collection of “Life Reports” in his column.

A few days ago, he topped off his column with a distillation of life lessons from these essays. Lots of good nuggets in there, many contrary to what we’ve been taught as children.

Divide your life into chapters. The unhappiest of my correspondents saw time as an unbroken flow, with themselves as corks bobbing on top of it. A man named Neil lamented that he had been “an Eeyore not a Tigger; a pessimist, not an optimist; an aimless grasshopper, not a purposeful ant; a dreamer, not a doer; a nomad, not a settler; a voyager, not an adventurer; a spectator, not an actor, player or participant.” He concluded: “Neil never amounted to anything.”

The happier ones divided time into (somewhat artificial) phases. They wrote things like: There were six crucial decisions in my life. Then they organized their lives around those pivot points. By seeing time as something divisible into chunks, they could more easily stop and self-appraise. They had more control over their fate.

Beware rumination. There were many long, detailed essays by people who are experts at self-examination. They could finely calibrate each passing emotion. But these people often did not lead the happiest or most fulfilling lives. It’s not only that they were driven to introspection by bad events. Through self-obsession, they seemed to reinforce the very emotions, thoughts and habits they were trying to escape.

Many of the most impressive people, on the other hand, were strategic self-deceivers. When something bad was done to them, they forgot it, forgave it or were grateful for it. When it comes to self-narratives, honesty may not be the best policy.

You can’t control other people. David Leshan made an observation that was echoed by many: “It took me twenty years of my fifty-year marriage to discover how unwise it was to attempt to remake my wife. … I learned also that neither could I remake my friends or students.”

On the other hand, some of the most inspiring stories were about stepparents who came into families and wisely bided their time, accepting slights and insults until they were gradually accepted by their new children.

Lean toward risk. It’s trite, but apparently true. Many more seniors regret the risks they didn’t take than regret the ones they did.

Measure people by their growth rate, not by their talents. The best essays were by people who made steady progress each decade. Regina Titus grew up shy and sheltered on Long Island. She took demeaning clerical jobs, working with people who treated her poorly. Her first husband died after six months of marriage and her second committed suicide.

But she just kept growing. At 56, studying nights and weekends, she obtained a college degree, cum laude, from Marymount Manhattan College. She moved to Wilmington, Del., works as a docent, studies opera, hikes, volunteers and does a thousand other things. She acknowledges, “I did not have the joy of holding my baby in my arms. I did not have a long and happy marriage.” But hers is a story of relentless self-expansion. I wonder how we can measure that capacity.

Be aware of the generational bias. Many of the essayists have ambivalent attitudes toward their parents. Almost all have worshipful attitudes toward their children. I’m not sure how to explain this pattern, but I don’t think it’s pure egotism. Many writers mentioned that given their own flaws, they are astounded that their kids turned out so well.

Work within institutions or crafts, not outside them. For a time, our culture celebrated the rebel and the outsider. The most miserable of my correspondents fit this mold. They were forever in revolt against the world and ended up sourly achieving little.

People get better at the art of living. By their 60s many contributors found their zone. Metaphysics is dead; very few of the writers hewed to a specific theology or had any definite conception of a divine order, though vague but uplifting spiritual experiences pepper their reflections.

It’s OK to move on. We are told to live for others. But one savvy retiree writes, “Don’t stay with people who, over time, grow apart from you. Move on. This means do what you think will make you feel okay — even if that makes others feel temporarily not okay.”

(via Jay Parkinson)

Source: The New York Times

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    • #lessons
  • 1 year ago
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Hidden Habits of Ineffective People

No one sets out to be ineffective, but it’s easy to pick up the habits. Too easy.

Consuming more than you create
Effective people tend to create a lot of content. Content can mean a lot of things - but the rule is always the same, create more than you consume. Ineffective people, on the other hand, spend the majority of their time consuming the fruits of others’ labor. They are consummate lurkers.

Watching your own vanity metrics
Everyone suffers from some level of vanity. A need to be liked. The Internet feeds that need, keeping popularity at the forefront of any online identity with lists of ‘Friends,’ ‘Followers,’ ‘Connections,’ ‘Re-Pins’ and even the ‘Like’ itself. Ineffective people tend to feed on these popularity metrics, whereas effective people recognize that these are shallow indicators. Effective people focus more on engagement and strength of relationships; they create quality content to solicit engagement from others, or seek out interesting people and proactively engage them on their own terms.

Starting the day responding to others
Ineffective people allow others to set the agenda for their day. They start their morning reading or responding to others’ requests. Effective people approach each day with an agenda for what they want to accomplish, start their day tackling a task crucial for accomplishing their goal, and respond to others when (or if) it works with their agenda.

Prioritizing the wrong activities
Busy work. It’s quite literally work that keeps you busy; it saps your time, but gets you no closer to your end goal. Ineffective people tend not to recognize busy work, and therefore, they prioritize tasks that will not move them any closer to their goals. Effective people recognize busy work for what it is and waste little to no time trying to appear busy when they know there are more important tasks to be completed.

Relying on multi-tasking to “save time”
Multi-tasking is a scam. Being able to walk and chew gum at the same time may be the only true form of multi-tasking worth doing. Ineffective people use multi-tasking to appear busy, or to fool themselves into believing they can reach their goal faster by making minor progress on a lot of things at once. Effective people have a secret weapon to saving time. Focus. Effective people know which tasks are important for reaching their goal, and they focus on each one after another.

Originally posted on Quora by Chris Wake.

  • 1 year ago > gtmcknight
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“Type Case” by Martin Bircher is a vintage European printers’ type case fitted with digitally-controlled LEDs inside each section. Together they form a low-res display, set to display a sequence of images and words.

The case itself is lovely. I think I’ll go look on eBay for a nice one to refurb.

(via laughingsquid.com)

Source: mar.li

  • 1 year ago
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Plaza de Armas at night in Cusco, Peru.

My friend is backpacking across South America and got this great shot after a hike up the hill.
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Plaza de Armas at night in Cusco, Peru.

My friend is backpacking across South America and got this great shot after a hike up the hill.

Source: fifthtone.blogspot.com

  • 1 year ago
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Saw the new Dark Knight Rises poster and all I could see was Inception.

DKR poster via hypertext.net
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Saw the new Dark Knight Rises poster and all I could see was Inception.

DKR poster via hypertext.net

  • 1 year ago
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I think this Carousel Horse Race carried out by Improv Everywhere was probably more fun for the parents and spectators than the kids who had no idea what was going on. Still, fantastic. Would have loved to see this one in person.

Source: improveverywhere.com

  • 1 year ago
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“Hitch” is animated short showing you how to cook a recipe of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. Everything is just gorgeous.

(via laughingsquid.com)

Source: Laughing Squid

  • 1 year ago
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I think this Star Trek PADD app for iPad should provide just enough motivation for anyone with a nerdy side to go out and get an iPad.

From the app description:

  • Browse or search through official database of Star Trek television series information, including aliens, ships, places, technologies, and episode guide
  • Rich, immersive LCARS graphical interface, introduced in Star Trek: The Next GenerationTM television series
  • Authentic computer sound effects and voice
  • Jump to related information through cross-links to other content
  • Read the latest news from the Star TrekTM Facebook page and Star Trek Twitter feed
  • Enjoy two self-running diagnostic modes with an overview schematic of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM NCC-1701-D

(via Chris Pirillo)

  • 1 year ago
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Links for July 11, 2011

Dudley Clendinen has Lou Gehrig’s disease a short time to live. Which is fine by him; he’s got a plan for living life. via

The (in)famous Stanford Experiment, 40 years later, from interviews with the participants. via

Ernest Nussbaum, the inventor of the Practicello, a full-height practice cello that breaks down to fit in carry-on luggage, in photos and video.

Microsoft’s next big billion-dollar business? Android via patent royalties from manufacturers. via

Seafood conservation groups consider turning diners loose on invasive fish species such as the lionfish. Of course, there’s risks.

Netflix is hitting Hollywood where it hurts – aggregation and distribution.

New book considers how Germany could have won WWII.

    • #links
  • 1 year ago
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Leica shows off the intense manufacturing process that goes into each Leica lens. Even with all the precision machines, there is still an extraordinary amount of meticulous hand-crafted work.

(via 1001noisycameras)

Source: vimeo.com

  • 1 year ago
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Some of these 25 ways to wear a scarf apply only to thin scarves and women’s scarves but many will still work for heavier winter scarves. Still never hurts to see more ways to tie scarves.

Source: youtube.com

  • 2 years ago
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Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.
Ira Glass

Source: kottke.org

  • 2 years ago
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Trench signs at the Imperial War Museum as photographed by Ben Terrett. Love the smarmy attitude in all the signs.

You can see more in Ben’s Flickr photoset.

Source: noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com

  • 2 years ago
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When you don’t create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. Your tastes only narrow and exclude people. So create.
_why (via mavenist)
  • 2 years ago >
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Thoughts and curations by Patrick Wang.

You can email me at

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