2551. Things do not necessarily happen for the
best, but some people are able to make the best out of things that happen;
2552. The most successful people see adversity not
as a stumbling block, but as a stepping-stone to greatness;
2553. Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever
achieve greatly;
2554. Many venture capitalists will only hire
managers who have already experienced their share of business flops. A spotless résumé is not nearly as promising
as one that showcases defeat and growth;
2555. In his book The Pursuit of Perfect,
Tal Ben-Shahar writes that “we can only learn to deal with failure by actually
experiencing failure, by living through it.
The earlier we face difficulties and drawbacks, the better prepared we
are to deal with the inevitable obstacles along our path;”
2556. In one experiment where 90 people went
through a software training program, half were taught to prevent errors from
occurring, while the other half were guided into mistakes during training. The group encouraged to make errors not only
exhibited greater feelings of self-efficacy, but because they had learned to
figure their own way out of mistakes, they were also far faster and more accurate
in how they used the software later on;
2557. When we fail, or when life delivers us a
shock, we can become so hopeless that we respond by simply giving up;
2558. Tibetan monks eat granola bars . . . and
(roasted, unshelled) peanuts;
2559. I can say I’ve had a cheesesteak in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . . . albeit it was in the airport;
2560. Karl Storchmann, a clinical professor of
economics at New York University and the managing editor of the Journal of
Wine Economics, claims that wines prominently labeled as “organic” in the
U.S. are underpriced. (He says) Europe
is the opposite;
2561. I know someone whose friends with Armin van
Buuren;
2562. Brazilians use a lot of rock salt to
barbeque picanha (i.e., the rump cap of a cow);
2563. Mission first, people always;
2564. Lard fried (buttermilk) chicken has a
distinctive (and kind of strange) taste to it;
2565. “Patrón” in Spanish means “boss;”
2566. The Patrón distillery in Mexico runs
twenty-four hours a day seven days a week;
2567. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was designed
by a then 20 year-old, Chinese American undergraduate (student) at Yale
(University), named Maya Lin;
2568. Honey and lemon (“tea”) is pretty tasty;
2569. Apparently, I went to school (i.e., college)
with Peyton Manning’s wife, Ashley;
2570. On Mondays, Murphy’s Irish Pub has all you
can eat (barbeque pork) ribs for $14.95 from 5 o’clock to 9 o’clock;
2571. When you talk too much — when you give too
many details, too much information — you’re lying;
2572. Apparently, the Second Lady (i.e., Dr. Jill
Biden) is a fan of Malcolm Gladwell;
2573. Malcolm Gladwell used to write for “The
Washington Post;”
2574. Goliath (as in the story of David and
Goliath from the Bible) may have been blind;
2575. Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian, who won’t
remember your face (i.e., prosopagnosia), is a glutton for punishment (i.e., a
Buffalo Bills fan), who wishes he could write like Michael Lewis and who loves
his sleep (i.e., about nine hours a night);
2576. I can say that I’ve been to a book signing
with the Second Lady;
2577. Secret Service agents are kind of dicks, but
I guess you have to be if you work (in) security;
2578. The crowd at a “Nine Inch Nails” concert is
(a lot) more normal than I thought it’d be;
2579. (The band) “Godspeed You! Black Emperor”
sounds like an angrier version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” soundtrack;
2580. Go within, discover your invisible higher
self, and know God as the love that is within you;
2581. Seedless watermelons are allowed by the U.S.
Standards for Grades of Watermelons to contain up to 10 seeds;
2582. Apparently, you can eat as much candy as you
want as long as you rinse the sugar off your teeth (afterwards) by drinking
water . . . at least that’s what a dental assistant told me;
2583. “FWB” means “friends with benefits,” not
“favorite white boy” . . . duh;
2584. Sonoma and Napa are both known for wine
production, but they’re in different (although neighboring) places (i.e.,
valleys) in California;
2585. The child in us believes that if the
original perpetrators — or their current replacements — finally change their
minds, apologize, or make up for that terrible rupture of trust, we can escape
from our prison of unworthiness. Our
conscious self is drawn to the positive qualities we yearn for, but our
unconscious draws us to the qualities that hurt us the most as children;
2586. A man knows what he wants and goes for
it. A boy may have somewhat of an idea,
but not really. He doesn’t think too
much about it, and even if he does, he doesn’t exert much effort to get
it. A boy is passive. A man is assertive;
2587. A man takes the time to reflect on the type
of man he wants to be, the example he wants to leave and the vision for his
life. He has put thought into his
values. A boy has not established his
moral compass or values and, consequently, is often inconsistent;
2588. A man has integrity. He means what he says and says what he
means. He follows through and acts on
his promises. And if he can’t (follow
through and act), he has the guts to tell you why. A boy makes promises, but doesn’t follow through on them;
2589. A man is afraid of rejection, but will put
himself out there anyway. A boy is
afraid of rejection and acts passively so that his pride and ego won’t ever get
too banged up;
2590. Shiben Bhattacharya (i.e., Matt Nathanson’s
touring bassist) likes to smoke and take pictures of the (front of the) venue
before shows;
2591. Joshua Radin gives out wristbands for
meet-and-greets for buying merch(andise) so he can meet his fans and not be
overwhelmed . . . not because he wants to sell more merch(andise) . . . so he
says;
2592. “Fine Champagne” cognac is made with at
least 50% Grande Champagne eaux de vie and the rest Petite Champagne eaux de
vie;
2593. Cognac is like Scotch/whiskey except (it’s)
made with grapes;
2594. I’ve been told that some barrels of Rémy
Martin could buy you several Mercedes-Benzes;
2595. Cognac is brandy;
2596. Luisa is really into Georgetown (men’s)
basketball;
2597. If you like traditional, Irish(,
instrumental) music, Daniel O’Connell’s Restaurant (DanielOConnells.com) in
(Old Town) Alexandria has a live band playing on Monday nights;
2598. Think about for 5 minutes what your life
will be like in 5, 10 and 20 years if you don’t change anything. Then write it down as descriptively as
possible. Think about for another 5
minutes how you want your life to look like in 5, 10 and 20 years. Then write down the changes you’ll need to
make to get there – and how you’re going to make those changes;
2599. You are in charge of your life. If you don’t set a direction, you’ll drift
to wherever you end up;
2600. Most
people spend more time and care planning their vacations than they spend
planning their lives;
