This book had a lot of good points around self improvement being the driving factor of life. It also made the point that money should not be an end goal. Money is purely a means to other items. That mantra is in line with one of my personal mantras; it is the use and experience of something that gives it value, ownership or control are simply easy ways to get use. I’m already doing most of what the book recommends, but I should be networking a good deal more. I certainly have enough friends in interesting groups and companies that could introduce me to more interesting people. I have been ok at keeping in touch with my friends and acquaintances, but haven’t used them for introductions as much as I could.
This book had some really amazing points about the processes behind phsychological treatments and practices. The best of which is how they don’t tend to follow the scientific practice, and how anyone can spout nonsense and get others to pick it up. This was especially well demonstrated by the best seller “The Secret.” In The Secret the reader is told that things are attracted to you when you think about them, which is absurd and doesn’t go into edge cases well. The best way in my understanding to know if some process is real or fake is if the edge cases are appreciably addressed. There is also the double blind controlled study, but that is hard to come by when dealing with people.
One of the things I’m taking away from this is that determining the story one thinks about oneself can drastically change the way one behaves. This mantra can be applied to myself, or I can work on others by trying to change their story. I do all the time with Steph to help her see how amazing she really is; that cute, ninja, scuba, sailor, geeky, robot-making, adventurous, kind woman.
Today Nick and I went to dinner at Oren’s Hummus. We got the Shakshuka and Labane combo, and it was just as good as I remember it being. We each got a Sam Adams and it was a really nice dinner all together. Nick is still looking for places and it will most likely be in SF for him. Afterwards we went to my new place and Nick thought it was decently nice. I put in a new shower head and bought the x10 system for automation. I might need to get a few more pieces to have it all work properly, but it will be entirely worth it in the end.
The kitties have gotten a good number of new toys, and I’m happy that they enjoy all of them. Lana may be able to learn to fetch as well. There is a stingray toy that she will carry around, and it is adorable.
Archer is also liking the toys, but he is decidedly not as far along as Lana is with any of the ways he is playing with them. I was still able to get him to cuddle with the shark toy.
I’m loving them soooo much, and I hope they like the new place. It doesn’t have much of windows for them to look out of, but they are almost old enough to start getting used to their harnesses and leash training.
Before taking Steph to the airport on Friday for her flight to Mexico for the diving trip, we made some Japanese candy. The first batch was making some cute donuts. They were tiny, and had all sorts of toppings you could put on them. They also tasted pretty good, and very much like real donuts. The packets of white powder becoming all these different pieces of the candy is really amazing to see.
The second candies set we made was a bunch of gummies.
This movie was cheesy, predictable, and didn’t explain some of the really cool parts that came up. I know they wanted to make it mysterious, but it really didn’t help when the whole movie was based on the mysterious parts. I would have appreciated a little more understanding about the aliens and how everything happened to lead up to the start of the movie. The action sequences were also incredibly predictable. The fight of the Toms was a good example; as soon as they emphasize the gunshot, you know that the girl has been shot. I suppose for some things you need to rub it in everyone’s face so that it doesn’t get lost for the noise.
Today was my last day of looking at places. The only place that I considered vs. the basement studio was a little house in Palo Alto on the North side of University. It was in the back of a multiplex, but still rather nice. Nick didn’t seem up for it, since it was decently small. I ended up taking the basement studio in EPA thanks to the reviews from Nick and Bill. I am going to try to spruce the place up tomorrow and move in mostly on Monday. I need to still meet the woman that lives upstairs, and especially set up how we are going to work out the internet situation. Comcast has the house registered as a single address, and apparently it would be a pain to split it (not to mention more expensive).
While on the search we stopped by the Chocolate Garage, which was packed. Then we went to BackAYard and had a really tasty lunch. It will be nice living so close to there and downtown Palo Alto.
I’ll be moving the kitties on Monday as well, so they will be back to the real toilet for toilet training instead of the cardboard setup I’m using now. I’ll probably keep them on this sized hole for the next 2 weeks while they acclimate to the new house.
This movie was ok. The plot seemed quite forced, and the characters were incredibly flat. There weren’t many points when a character did something that you wouldn’t expect, and only the main character had a redeeming moment. Even the redeeming moment was expected, and the plot point for it seemed forced. I’d say the theory of the movie, and the action sequences make it worth seeing, but the plot makes it just ok.
Nick and I went to the AMC 20 to see this movie, and on the way we had dinner at Tandori Kitchen. We both got the Chicken Tikka Masala, which was mediocre for what it was.
The last game of the night was Tzolk’in. Tina, Adam, Nick, and I played this one. We didn’t have anyone going for skulls, and I did the food strategy again with the bonus of the food tile monument being out. I got 11 of the food tiles, but that wasn’t quite enough to make up for the other ways I destroyed myself to get it. I should have waited a few more turns to take it, but such is life. I ended up getting a close third. I think the next game I play is going to be the resource strategy instead of the food strategy. It technically has a bigger payout, but it is also harder to play since food is the way you place units. I’ll probably trade a bunch to get the food I need instead of hoping for the food track to have something for me. With many people seeing how I can control the board with the food strategy I expect a few more to go after it in the future. I also don’t think getting as many people as I did was useful in the end. I should have gotten other things instead.
It's an Exciting World 