Saturday, January 24, 2026
The most amazing 20 minutes in rock........
On nostalgia...................
I have a theory about nostalgia: It happens because the best survival strategy in an uncertain world is to overworry. When you look back, you forget about all the things you worried about that never came true. So life appears better in the past because in hindsight there wasn’t as much to worry about as you were actually worrying about at the time.
-Morgan Housel, from here
Whenever the discussion turns to how good the good-old-days were, my mind turns to 1968, my junior year in high school. Antiwar protests and riots. President Lyndon Johnson stops his reelection campaign. Martin Luther King assassination, followed by riots all over the country. Bobby Kennedy assassinated. It was a brutal year. The history major in me knows that there have been many brutal years. Not sure I am buying his theory. Would be my guess is that nostalgia is more about missing old friends and relationships, but that's just a guess.
Un......No............
Work can be part of your financial independence. Like other aspects of your financial plan, you just need some rules in place to guide your actions so it doesn’t become all-consuming.
Here are some work rules I would institute in this situation:
- The no assholes rule. Only work with people you like and respect.
- The no stress rule. Don’t keep working if it stresses you out all the time. You’re not wealthy if your work causes constant worry and anxiety.
- The no rule. Financial independence should make it easier to say no to invitations, projects, and events you don’t want to do. When you’re younger sometimes you have to suck it up. That shouldn’t be the case when you’re working by choice.
- The no regrets rule. Don’t keep working if it makes you miss out on family stuff. No one ever says I wish I would have worked longer hours on their deathbed.
-Ben Carlson, from here
Friday, January 23, 2026
Unclenching....................
Unclenching into life demands that we relax in the midst of the uncertainty and insecurity, because “in the midst of the uncertainty and insecurity” is where we always are. The reward is the aliveness, agency and sense of purchase on life that comes from no longer pretending otherwise.
-Oliver Burkeman, from here
And comparison is a great source................
......................................of unhappiness.
Compete externally and you compare.
Compete internally and you improve.
Compete internally and you improve.
-James Clear, from here
In the background............
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshineAnd my tunes were played on the harp unstrungWould you hear my voice come through the music?Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are brokenPerhaps they're better left unsungI don't know, don't really careLet there be songs to fill the air
Ripple in still waterWhen there is no pebble tossedNor wind to blow
Reach out your hand, if your cup be emptyIf your cup is full, may it be againLet it be known there is a fountainThat was not made by the hands of men
There is a road, no simple highwayBetween the dawn and the dark of nightAnd if you go, no one may followThat path is for your steps alone
Ripple in still waterWhen there is no pebble tossedNor wind to blow
You who choose to lead must followBut if you fall you fall aloneIf you should stand then who's to guide you?If I knew the way I would take you home
-Hunter/Garcia
self-determination..............
My life improved dramatically when I stopped sacrificing myself in an effort to meet the narratives that other people had about me.
-Sahil Bloom, from today's episode
Embracing uncertainty................
The nature of discoveries is that they are unexpected: they may not fit neatly into our existing edifice of knowledge. Although the research may be originally motivated by a perceived gap, the knowledge resulting from the discovery may in fact not complete any part of the wall but instead may lead to the construction of a completely new and unexpected area: we may be forced to build a new wall orthogonal to the first, or even to tear down parts of the existing structure. This is an uncomfortable concept for many of us, who would prefer a tidy and beautiful universe, where a rational process helps us to illuminate the world. And yet, the most interesting unknowns of science are unknown unknowns—gaps that we were not even aware of before chancing upon them.
-Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher.
via the wide wide world of Tim Ferriss
Damn him.......................
Apparently my plan to not buy any new books for a while will have to be shelved. Michael Wade posits the need for laugher therapy - "Laughter repels the trolls". Hard to argue.
Ed. Note: the Salinger entry on the list is a puzzler. It has been a very long time, may need to re-read it.
Sunday, January 18, 2026
New books in 2026.................
..........Adam Grant has an interesting list. Having said that, methinks the focus for 2026 will be on the old, unread, books already on the bookshelves.
the controllable variable.............
The only controllable variable in any situation is you. Oddly, it’s the last one people adjust.
-Shane Parrish, from this edition
on finding the truth...................
I’m increasingly convinced that the willingness to change your mind is the ultimate sign of intelligence. The most impressive people I know change their minds often in response to new information. It’s like a software update. The goal isn't to be right. It's to find the truth.
-Sahil Bloom, from here
About those good intentions............
Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions.
-Daniel Webster, as culled from here
They'd say you're a good man....................
Then again . . . I can’t help but try to resurrect all the ancestors — the ancients of days — who I’m sure would have birthed the same or similar thoughts bearing on the time left to them, and the speed with which life slipped through their fingers.
And I’d wonder what they’d say to me . . . ?
-Julian Summerhayes, from here
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