Amusing Ourselves to Death – James Book Blog
“The civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny, fail to take in to account man’s almost infinite appetite for distraction.”
Category: thought
Mr. Harden reminds us what a great year for music 1980 was. I turned 13 years old in 1980. This was pretty much my coming of age soundtrack.
Me: “I hope you don’t grow up and begin to hate me.”
Beatrix, age 11: “Dad. You know that’s not going to happen. We both know that’s not going to happen. So it’s not going to happen. OK?”
Unfollowing everyone on Twitter and rebuilding from the ground up may be a great strategy for some. Worth consideration.
Somewhat related: I’ve been building a list of relentlessly positive/inspirational people to follow there. Message to me there if you’ve got a suggestion.
My wife has declared it the Summer of Fun. So it shall be.
My Writing Process
Here’s my writing process:
- Think about [subject] for days/weeks/months.
- A sudden “A ha!” hits me out of nowhere and my writing brain fires up unexpectedly, without warning, usually at the most inconvenient time.
- Get it out of my head, fully formed, as quickly as possible as if possessed by some demon spirit.
- Ship it.
No shitty first drafts. No sloppy copies. Even my longest work has followed this pattern from think about things long and hard to coming out fully formed.
My writing process flies in the face of every “writing guide” I’ve ever read.
I say this to let you know that there is no one true way except the way that is true for you.
Nicolas Bate has the personal finance basics you need. I’ll add a couple of others…
- Having more money is something out of your control. Spending less is something squarely within it.
- Aggressively reduce your overhead. Find ways to knock off payments and keep them off.
Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.
— Kurt Vonnegut
Everyone seems to be posting their iPhone home screens today. Here is mine. It should surprise no one that mine is very intentional. Organized for only the things I really regularly use. Everything else hidden away.
Beatrix and the Queens.
