Did you know that “to reiterate” is repetitively redundant? Yes, “to iterate” literally means “to do over again or repeatedly.” Therefore, “to reiterate” would mean “to repeatedly repeat.”
This is among the many cool things I’ve learned this past year. I believe in constantly learning as part of a kaizen process. So, on the final day of 2011, I’d like to recap some of the best things I’ve stumbled upon by accident and by forced mistake:
One need only perfect a single major chord progression on the guitar. Then you can slide that same pattern all over the neck to find all the other major chords. Of course, the same principle applies for minor chords. I finally shelled out some dough to figure out how to play that confounded piece of wood and string that I’ve been groping for the past decade. In the end, school time supplanted practice time and advance was halted.
Everyone has religious and political beliefs. I don’t care what yours are and don’t have the energy to tell you why mine are right.
There are only 24 hours in a day. Count them. The little hand hits each major notch 12 times, twice a day – no more. I’ve been aware of this nugget, but I’ve never fully comprehended it before. Time is precious and should be used wisely. Spending 7-8 hours of it sleeping is a good use. That leaves you 16-17 hours to eat, poop, study, work, love, and have some fun. I’ve spent a quarter hour so far on this article.
Staying regular provides high utility in an economic sense. Look it up.
We have more time than we think we do. The average American human life lasts 78 years. That is 78 summers, 78 Christmases, 78 Thanksgivings, 78 football seasons, 78 World Series, 78 annual family vacations, and 78 spring mating seasons. That also leaves for a small handful of marriages, graduations, vacations with friends, good dates, extended family holidays, etc. You only get one life that lasts 78 years. Live fully, laugh heartily, love completely, leave work early, and build something that outlasts you.
Money is a number. It is a very important number, but a number nonetheless.
The more grains the better. I have expounded on my knowledge of brewing beer exponentially this year and can now brew a better beer than most commercial suds. Beer has been added as a new passion of mine. I brewed a cloudy wheat this week and look forward to opening my honey brown next week. The process has been consuming but rewarding. Try something new, nurture ideas, take up a hobby, do something you can share with friends and family.
You cannot stop Dirk Nowitzki. You can only hope to contain him.
Cars are named after women for a reason. If you don’t listen to them and give them what they need, they will turn on you viciously. My car’s clutch gave out halfway home on a four-hour trip, at night, on New Year’s Eve. I spent my midnight as the only guest in the Heartbreak Hotel in McAlester, Okla. I took the bus the next week to pick her up at an outrageous dealership price. Five months later, the oil pump failed, and she broke down in the middle of the highway at one o’clock in the A.M. After returning home three hours later, I got around in a rental until the perfect deal on a truck appeared. All her fluids have recently been changed.
For you single guys, any woman will talk to you. Just say, “Hello.” Nut up. You only get one life. Live it.
To live and let live.
James Joyce was a genius but is still damn hard to read.
You can only connect the dots going forward, not backward. Steve Jobs laid this out for us in his Stanford commencement speech years ago. Now that he is gone, this is his lasting impression on me – not the iPhone, not the MacBook Pro, nor the iPod. Pursue what interests you, what you love, then put the past together as you move forward. Your product will be more natural, it will be more enjoyable to make, and you will enjoy learning more.
Baseball carries the rhythm of my heartbeat.
Lists. They’re the only way to get things done.
Art is the hardest work to complete…because it’s never done!
Anything worth its weight in salt should be built from the bottom up. That way it will last and bear tenfold the fruit that you used to grow it.
I’d rather be weird than find myself fitting someone else’s norms.
People are more afraid of the temperature than getting hit by a car whilst chasing a hat in the wind across a 40-mph street at 5 p.m. on a weekday.
Never trust anyone that desires power.
You still have to pick someone to lead.
Nature is where we came from. It’s to where we’re returning. It’s how we were meant to live. I’ve dived into yoga, meditation, hiking, natural remedies, acceptance, family in all senses, and truly drifting on the wind. I still work hard, but I listen to my atmosphere so much closer.
My brother is the raddest dude I know.
My sister has enormous capacity for love.
My dad fits in everywhere.
My mom has no end to her dedication.
When the moment passes, it’s gone; but another one is around the corner.
I’ve learned so much more, and many of these have clarified this past year. The turn into my final semester of law school got me thinking about all that has accumulated. I hope you take stock of the important things, big and small in your life. If you’re reading this, thank you for listening.
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