Chaos Theory

The sorrows of work

• Success at Work vs. Success at Life: "That said, it isn’t that all we need to do to succeed at life is flunk school. A good life requires us to do two very tricky things: be an extremely good boy or girl for 20 years; and simultaneously never really believe blindly in the long-term validity or seriousness of what we’re being asked to study. We need to be outwardly entirely obedient while inwardly intelligently and committedly rebellious."
• Why You Probably Aren't Enjoying Your Life Very Much: "If you wonder why you made such momentous errors, the reason is painfully simple: you simply had no idea what was at stake. Long ago, you were left alone with a decision that you had no capacities to address sensibly. And now you are trapped in a cage built for you by a blind 20-year-old version of yourself. Our culture is mesmerised by the experiences of a small number of exceptional people who know from a young age what their talents and inclinations are and how best to direct them in the adult world. These people – the writer, the orchestra conductor, the priest, the scientist – are propelled by a calling and apparently guided by the hand of destiny. Impressed by these characters, our societies have fallen prey to the charming but reckless democratic idea that everyone has a professional destiny – and should be left alone to discover it. But, in truth, almost no one does have such a thing. Most of us hover weakly between multiple possibilities; we have no sense of what we would deeply enjoy, what is available and what we would be best suited to. Panicked, we therefore choose blindly, in a hurry, under pressure – and, inevitably, erroneously."
• " But a new study suggests that people who desire power are mostly looking to control one thing—themselves. Another study suggests that while striving for power lowers people’s well-being, once they have power, they really are happier, because they feel more authentic—the power makes them feel like the circumstances of their lives are more in line with who they feel they are inside. That may be because the power gives them the freedom to make their own decisions, and their sense of well-being grows when they do what they want."
• BLARPING--Business Live Action Role Play. I seriously don't get why this would be fun when we all live it IRL. "Inside the BLARP, people have fake roles—from the Head of Generic Operations to Executive Kitchen Coordinator. There have been parking disasters, nuclear meltdowns, office injuries, take your pet to work day, office parties, and more. An iguana population has claimed sovereign territory of the fourth floor—before the lizards were all made redundant. There are nearly 2,500 people participating in the group, running the gamut from a high schooler to actual corporate suits."
• Things Have Always Been as Bad: "What we call the news is really a business that understands that you cannot make money by telling people that things are, on balance, going to be OK. The point of news is to make money by scaring us – and it does this brilliantly. It may be trying to inform us, but its chief aim is to ensure that we’ll be panicked enough to keep reading and watching."

Weird presidential things

This story about reincarnated presidential horses. Whaaaat?

JFK: the opera.

Judging the president's kids (Washington Post)

"When Alice Roosevelt carries around a snake at parties, however, it is slightly more understandable if you have something to say about that." The Garfield boys were total terrors, ditto the Lincolns. Margaret Truman couldn't sing. 

Interview with Alice Roosevelt Longworth in 1974 (Washington Post).

• “I must say, I’m always on stage. All Roosevelts are exhibitionists,” she says. “Am I? Decidedly so. That, my dear is what becomes of peasants.”
• “It’s irresistible,” she admits later. “The delight of pouring out yourself to someone who listens with rapt attention and takes down every precious word.”
• And of course there is The Pillow — the needlepoint pillow that has been so often noticed and to which her detractors point when they deplore her mischievous nature. It, too, is wrapped in plastic and it says, “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anyone, come and sit here by me.”
• "I must admit a sense of mischief does get hold of me from time to time. I’m a hedonist. I have an appetite for being entertained. Isn’t it strange how that upsets people?"
• "And Julie Eisenhower has got something. She seems rather smart. Joanna scoffed at her piece about me and I suppose it was rather scoffable, but I did it because I wanted to show that we’re friends. I like Julie better than Tricia. I’ve never been able to get on with Tricia. She seems rather pathetic, doesn’t she? I wonder what’s wrong with her?”
• "“I’m probably bad about people who have noble, fine and marvelous thoughts. That’s so depressing. I never could stand the little pious family things that my sanctimonious cousins used to do. But they’re all dead now.”
• "And then some things I think are terribly funny. Like dear old men’s things hanging all around them. I think that’s terribly funny.”
  What?
  “Men’s penises, my dear,” she says very deliberately, leaning forward, waiting for a reaction."

You love her, right?

A Field Guide to Jameses. "Just the mere mention of the Jefferson's name should lull the Jameses into a docile state."

Presidents similar to Trump.

Burrito love

• I'm engaged...to a burrito.
• We just gave birth to a burrito.

Tales of tiny living arrangements

• Living in an RV at Google.
• Living in a truck at Google (Washington Post). With accompanying blog.
• Living in a truck in San Francisco.
• Living in a backyard tent in Mountain View.
• My husband wants to rent out a yurt in the backyard.
• Living in a damn box in someone's living room in San Francisco (Washington Post).

This is kinda disturbing

Search results here for "founding father funnies."

The Evolution of Anxiety: Why We Worry and What to Do About It

"One of the greatest sources of anxiety in a Delayed Return Environment is the constant uncertainty. There is no guarantee that working hard in school will get you a job. There is no promise that investments will go up in the future. There is no assurance that going on a date will land you a soulmate. Living in a Delayed Return Environment means you are surrounded by uncertainty.

So what can you do? How can you thrive in a Delayed Return Environment that creates so much stress and anxiety?"

I just had to note this

"Yes, Princess Ojiaku is her real name and yes, her parents are awesome."

Waitress: the musical

So that's now a thing.

What's Tobo up to lately?

"Only after the broken neck did I understand the power of telling true stories and not elaborating."

 

More Jenny Crusie and Person of Interest

• "Witness" and Reversals: "In “Witness,” we have a major reversal, so major that a second viewing of the same episode is an entirely different story. In the first viewing, Reese is saving a mild-mannered school teacher, beloved by his students, a standard episode of crime-of-the-week TV. And then comes the crisis turning point, and not only the story but the entire series will never be the same. Bread crumbs had been laid for this reveal in previous episodes, but they couldn’t be put together until this one moment of stunned surprise, at which point it’s too late."
• "Flesh and Blood" and the Well Rounded Antagonist: "That echo between protagonist and antagonist almost always makes for a layered conflict, while strengthening the character of both the protagonist and the antagonist."
• Introducing Root: "THen at the turning point, they blow it up. The Machine Gang will go on fighting, but it’s all very different now, with a shifted power structure, and much tougher antagonists. It is, in short, brand new again. That’s what a turning point does."