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Ephemeral Friendships
Glasses clinked and spoons rattled against porcelain as we sat in a backstreet cafe in Tokyo. Our table was three chairs one one side and a low couch on the other. Across from me was Jimmy. We met a couple years ago because a mutual friend moved to Jimmy’s town in New Zealand. He introduced…
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Debt is the Opposite of Freedom
Most of us, especially people like you who have come to read this blog, value freedom. And not the corndog and bald eagle variety, but the ability to make a wide range of decisions that affect the outcome of one’s life. Freedom may not be everything; the single billionaire can do almost anything he likes,…
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When to Maximize, When to Suffice
I’m a natural maximizer. Whenever I do something, my natural inclination is to go all the way. For example, I travel comfortably and productively with just one bag that weighs less than ten pounds. My RV has become almost comical, with marble and wood floors, gold leaf, and advanced security and automation systems. The pitfall…
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Seeing Faults in Others
Sometimes I would be in my own little world. I remember, as a kid, helping my dad with projects, and he would say that I was oblivious to what was going on around me. He’d be waiting for me to hand him a hammer, but I’d be staring off at something else. And then, around…
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What Won’t You Change?
A while back I watched some of the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, a firmly entrenched creationist. The debate was mostly hilarious and mind-boggling, but one question really stood out to me. Someone asked each of them, what, if anything, could change their mind. Bill Nye said anything– any shred of evidence that…
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What I’m Thankful for in 2014
I think that gratitude is an essential part of a good life. If you don’t appreciate the people, places, and things that make up your life, you don’t have much motivation do anything. I feel the weight of gratitude every day. Many times a day I think of how fortunate I am to be where…
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Being Bad at Things Isn’t Cool
My stepfather was talking today about a friend of his who is a competitive arm-wrestler. That reminded me of something I’d tell people, back in high school: that I’d only won two arm-wrestling matches in my life, and both were against girls. The implication was that I was very weak. I took a weird sense…
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How I Decided to Move to Las Vegas In 12 Hours
My friend Leo suggested once that I write a post about how I make decisions. Since then I’ve been waiting for the right moment, one where I made a large decision in a very short amount of time. That happened today, when I decided to move to Las Vegas. From time to time I check…
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Playing Games
There’s a concept called Radical Honesty that was made popular by a book with the same name. The idea was that you were to be not only completely honest, but also completely forthcoming. If you met someone and they reminded you of Jabba the Hut, you’d be obliged to tell them so immediately. It may…
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Try Not to be Ignorant
When you write a blog that has a fair number of readers, you get a lot of comments on your writing. I just did a quick query, and I’ve had over 18,000 comments here, nearly all of which I’ve read. Most are positive and constructive, some are contrary but still constructive, and some are malicious.…
