March 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm ()
In Acne Society, the prestigious role of “Visible on the Drivers License Photo” is trumped by the aristocratic position of “Visible on the Passport Photo.” Being “Visible on the High School Yearbook Photo” means nothing, though, as there’s nothing special about THAT achievement.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:27 pm ()
I’ve never found worse judges of characters than people who claim to be excellent judges of character. It’s almost as bad as finding “empaths.”
This is not to say there aren’t people who are good judges of character. They simply aren’t ostentatious about it.
March 26th, 2008 at 11:02 am ()
I am testing out a theory that compromise is only an assurance that people who mistrust each other achieve a seemingly equal level of discomfort.
One of the requirements of compromise is that everyone involved be convinced that their deal is marginally better than the deals offered to the others, so secrecy is critical.
Making it sound so scary just encourages me to seek consensus even more, which is usually a lot of work, and requires transparency, but as time goes on, I see more and more the advantages of transparency and consensus.
March 25th, 2008 at 12:36 pm ()
Our value is not in the things we DO — although that has some value — because that commodifies us and makes us a machine. Our value is in who we ARE — how we are DIFFERENT than our fellows. That is our unique contribution to the world around us.
People who understand that discover that they are much more powerful than they could ever imagine, and people who have the ability to wake others up to that realization are worth their weight in gold.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:53 pm ()
Fantastic name for a coffee shop. Horrible name for a sports bar.
Just in case you were looking for a name for your new business. 
March 17th, 2008 at 4:00 pm ()
Are you from a completely different planet, or what? I understand that you must exist, at least to satisfy the anal retentive Manner Mavins among us, but is it really necessary to vary from the Standard Spoon Shape that is designed for human mouths? Honestly, we would neither care or notice if you were, in fact identical. This weird shape you’ve adopted, though? The deep wide bowl shape? Forget it, Soup Spoon. I’m tired of abrading the edges of my upper lip, only to still end up with a soup slick at the bottom of the spoon. If you were a bit smaller, I could discreetly turn you upside down once you’re safely in my mouth (and let my tongue take care of business), but you have combined your ungainly shape with a bizarre size change such that the only way I could spin you in my mouth would be to dislocate my jaw like an anaconda trying to eat an emu.
So, I’ll be setting you aside in the future. Don’t be jealous — just fix your shit.
What do you do with a miracle you can’t share, or one that CONTRADICTS what you believe? What if your hedge casts a perfect shadow of a Biblical Event that they DON’T talk about in Sunday School, such as the Crucifixion Orgy?
I just can’t bring myself to accept as an authority a supreme supernatural being that wouldn’t have this sort of sense of humor.
Improvisation is an amazing thing and what’s so paradoxical about it is that people simultaneously value improvisational skills, yet at the same time either don’t know or refuse to see as learnable the basics of improvisation, which are VERY simple skills that can be learned quickly and easily practiced.
For example, there is a common “warm-up” game called “Yes, and…” which is easy to understand, but surprisingly difficult to maintain. It works like this: The first person makes a small statement, such as “I have a dog.” and the next person adds “Yes, and…” and then adds something else to the previous statement, such as “Yes, and he’s well-behaved.” Play continues around in the circle, several times, all adding things to the idea of the dog, until it just gets silly. The key, however, is to always ADD to the idea — never to contradict what’s already been said. This exercises a thought process called “accepting the offer.” Accepting an offer is simple to do, but much harder than it looks. People seem to want to be iconoclasts and mavericks and contradict a story, just to “make their mark” but this game forces each player to be a contributing part of a larger story, instead of a sole author.
This is a skill that is nothing but helpful in life. Because most of us interact with other people, it behooves us to do so with an eye toward cooperation. But, surprisingly, this can prove… difficult.
Go ahead and try playing the game. Watch what happens. Keep at it, though. Keep practicing accepting “offers” in conversations, keep thinking “Yes, and…” and see how much richer your interactions with other people become. You might be very surprised. Surprised and delighted.
Yes, and it’s fun, too.
I’ve never understood why the biggest “No Trespassing” signs are always strapped to the ugliest, nastiest, most uninviting pieces of property.
I would think that the fear of catching a disease from the terrifyingly wide variety of trash and grass-covered rust magnets would be enough to cause any intelligent human pause.
The key, maybe, is what I consider “intelligent.”
Perhaps this is why the signs have to be so big.