Saturday, September 29, 2012

Had to check five dictionaries.........

..........before finding one that knew this word:

                            "paraprosdokian"

Can you figure out its meaning by these examples?

 Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience. 

 The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on my list. 

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public. 

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Evening news is where they begin with 'Good Evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't. 

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station. 

Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, 'In case of emergency, notify:' I put 'DOCTOR.' 

Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman. 

You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. 

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. 

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. 

Where there is a will, I want to be in it

My new favorite dictionary (very kindly providing some other quoted examples) is here 

A more complete list of examples, and the source for this post, is at Maggie's Farm.

Can't you see........................

American Flyer............................Light of Your Love

Punditry..................................

From the prolific pen of WRM.......................

On state funding of political parties in Greece:
"This state-funded system combines the worst of all worlds. In a society notorious for political corruption and sclerotic government, this system is wide open for abuse by unscrupulous politicians. If the parties’ finances get desperate enough that they are forced to choose between their finances and the good of the country, things could get ugly very quickly."

On China's labor situation:
"It’s a great historical irony that Communist China’s most pressing internal danger these days is the rising militancy of an industrial working class. "

On the crushing costs of higher education:
"Costs in education, like costs in health care, are rising too fast. But the deeper problem is that the entire higher-ed system is fundamentally broken, and no amount of tinkering at the margins will fix it."

This essay references a chart from Bloomberg.  Here is that chart:




A different path (self-discipline required)...........


Tynan offers the Hustler's MBA.  Rather than investing four years and $50,000-$200,000 to get a college degree, he suggests spending the four years, and a much lower sum of money, pursuing the following:
1. Learn poker. To an outsider, poker seems like a form of degenerate gambling. It can be, but that's not its nature. One of the most valuable skills I've learned in life is how to assess hundreds of factors, choose the important ones, evaluate them to make a decision quickly, and then execute that decision. Poker teaches this extremely well. .
2. Travel a lot. 
3. Read every single day for at least an hour. 
4. Write every single day.
5. Learn to program, even if you don't want to be a programmer. 
6. Do something social.
7. Eat healthy. 
8. Follow curiosity and spend money on it when necessary. 
9. Start a business after two years. 
This is a modern curriculum that, on average, will produce people better prepared for real life than college. 
His full essay, with each of these ideas fleshed out,  is here.   It is well worth the time.

Deserve................................
























“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, 
deserve your love and affection.”
-Buddha


image via

In return..........................
















“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” 
-Anaïs Nin


image via

Seeing deer everywhere.........................














thanks jokeroo

Saturday...........................


Feeling good about this country...............

Madison Rising.......................Star Spangled Banner




thanks Grant

Brick wall.......................

The interview....................................here


thanks Craig

Friday, September 28, 2012

Trust in your love.......................

Poco........................................Heart of the Night

A question from the Ragamuffin..........





















image courtesy of

Precedence.....................

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot by fooled."
-Richard Feynman

Act..................................


Leave........................

Jonathan Fields interviews Helene Godin, a top-flight lawyer turned master pastry chef by the way.  Post here. Excerpt here:

"When I asked Helene what it was that made her leave such a long, esteemed, powerful and lucrative career, her answer was pretty simple…'I stopped waking up with a smile.'"

Interview video here:

Opposites...............................

























“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” 
-Elie Wiesel

Well, yes..............................


Choices............................


































image courtesy of

This is refreshing.............................



Thursday, September 27, 2012

Running in circles.......................

Coldplay....................................The Scientist

Deserve.........................

























“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

Judging..............................























“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” 
-Mother Teresa

Continuing education..............


















thanks John

More media equals more arguing.................or, cooperation without coordination.....................or, a new form of arguing................

Clay Shirky...........How the Internet will (one day) transform government




thanks swissmiss

Hmmmmm.................................

"The alternate to employment is not unemployment, but independence."
-G. K. Chesterton

Longing........................

               The Road Home

An ant hurries along a threshing floor
with its wheat grain, moving between huge stacks
of wheat, not knowing the abundance
all around.  It thinks its one grain
is all there is to love.

So we choose a tiny seed to be devoted to.
This body, one path or one teacher.
Look wider and farther.

The essence of every human being can see,
and what that essence-eye takes in,
the being becomes.  Saturn. Solomon!

The ocean pours through a jar,
and you might say it swims inside
the fish!  This mystery gives peace to
your longing and makes the road home home.

-Rumi

Sorry for slacking off.................


Say it's not so.............................

Terrible news.............................here or here

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Reach you..............................

Simon and Garfunkel...................Sounds of Silence

On reading to learn.................

"Most of the time when we read, we think an idea is good, we nod in agreement, and we browse on. Instead read with the intention of finding a good idea that you can use in your sales practice. Appropriate that idea by writing it down, along with how and when you intend to use it."
-S. Anthony Iannarino

Zestfully.......................
































"Have you ever stopped to think what fun this business of living can be? If you haven't, and if you are one of those who insist upon believing that life is humdrum, grim and boring, then I'm afraid this department is not for you. For I don't believe any such thing. I know that we can all free ourselves and live our lives fully, zestfully and joyfully!"
-Dorothy Draper

Something about kangaroos today...............

Woody Allen.............................................



Today vs Tomorrow...............

"If you are selling tomorrow, be very careful not to pitch people who are only interested in buying things that are about today. It's virtually impossible to sell financial planning or safety or the long-term impacts of the environment to a consumer or a voter who is relentlessly focused on what might be fun right now."
-Seth Godin

Amen............................


"Revisiting the question of 'What are we about?' is not a once-every-seven-years activity. You'll need to do it frequently."
-Michael Wade

"My boys press on. They have no natural advantages, and lots of impediments. How can they fail?"
-Greg Sullivan

"The buzz of doing a lot gets beaten - easily - by the buzz of achievement, of satisfaction.  Of finally doing a job well."
-Nicholas Bate

Can't we all just get along.......


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

This one's for Jetboy....................

The Blasters..............................................I'm Shakin'

Confused by opposites.......................


















"The invisible hand in politics operates in the opposite
direction to the invisible hand in the market."
-Milton Friedman

Mixed messages...............



















"Education is the established church of the United States. It is
one of the religions that Americans believe in.  It has its own
orthodoxy, its pontiffs, and its noble buildings."
-Michael Sadlier

We don't often get political, but when we do.......


















thanks jonco

Ed. Note:  The Oracle Google delivers a mixed message as to the
name of a large collection of baboons.  Troop is the most
commonly cited name.  Congress does appear several places,
but we are not sure if it is officially sanctioned, or mere wishful
thinking.  You decide.

Right nor wrong.............................


"You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you.  You are right because your data and reasoning are right."
-Benjamin Graham

image via

Every so often...............

Old fraternity friends gather for fun and laughs

in beautiful north east South Carolina.

A calm 18,000 acre  lake in the early morning fog

awaiting the much used canoe.

2 pounds of bacon and 18 eggs.  Just enough.

A late afternoon cruise on the neighbor's pontoon.

Still recovering from last years bout with the skis
My favorite rides top out at 58 mph.  Fast enough
Good eats and craft beer.  Life is good.

Monday, September 24, 2012

David Gray...........................................Sail Away

R.E.M.........................................The Outsiders

Sade..................................Smooth Operator

Doobie Brothers............................South City Midnight Lady

Kathy Troccoli/Beach Boys...............I Can Hear Music

Mark Knopfler/Chet Atkins.............................Imagine

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Boney James.........................Stop, Look, Listen

Sonny Rollins..................................Alfie's Theme

David Sanborn..........................................Pearls

Stan Getz..........................................Wave

John Coltrane.....................................Greensleeves

Paul Desmond................................Skylark