What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0180

8951.  If you really want to make an impact and move forward on your journey to significance, you have to go beyond yourself; you have to step outside yourself;

8952.  If you are struggling, stop feeling sorry for yourself and go out and help someone.  Add value to the world.  Turn your moping into mentoring and help someone climb the ladder in your world.  The best thing you can do for yourself is to make everyone around you better;

8953.  A reference is analogous art (to the claimed invention) if: (1) the reference is from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention (even if it addresses a different problem); or (2) the reference is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (even if it is not in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention);

8954.  Whatever you’re not changing, you’re choosing;

8955.  The root of joy is gratefulness.  It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful;

8956.  You should photograph people either at the beginning of the day or at the end (of the day).  Photographers calls this “the golden hour;”

8957.  The worst time to photograph anyone is (in) the middle of the day.  Between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, the sun is very high and directly above you (in the sky) so you’re going to get shadows under people’s eyes and you’re going to get lots of “hot spots” (i.e., areas of a photo that are significantly brighter than the rest) especially if s/he is wearing spring clothing, which tend to be pastel and light colors;

8958.  (In photographs,) stripes or intricate designs (on clothing) may not translate well digitally;

8959.  In photographs, try to wear solid colors or a pattern that’s not too busy;

8960.  In photographs, avoid white shirts.  They tend to be too bright and they create “hot spots;”

8961.  First, try.  Don’t not try out of fear of failure.  The next try, whether you “win” or you “learn,” may be the gateway to success;

8962.  I can accept failure.  Everyone fails at something.  But I can’t accept not trying;

8963.  There’s a huge difference between the statements “I failed” and “I am a failure;”

8964.  My blood is pretty worthless, but my plasma is gold;

8965.  “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

Oh divine master, grant that I may not seek so much to be consoled as to console.

To be understood, as to understand.

To be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

It is dying to self that we are born to eternal life;”

8966.  There’s no need to buy simple syrup.  To make it, use equal parts water and granulated sugar.  There’s no need to heat the mixture just stir until the sugar dissolves;

8967.  Don’t use room-temperature mixers when making a chilled cocktail.  Properly chilled carbonated mixers will better hold bubbles and lower the temperature of the drink to an optimal level.  The ice will melt more slowly minimizing dilution and maximizing enjoyment as you sip;

8968.  “Tate’s Bake Shop” walnut, chocolate chip cookies are (really) tasty;

8969.  Growth is an endlessly iterative process.  When we learn something new, we don’t go from “wrong” to “right.”  Rather we go from wrong to slightly less wrong.  We are always in the process of approaching truth and perfection without actually ever reaching truth or perfection;

8970.  We shouldn’t seek to find the ultimate “right” answer for ourselves, but rather we should seek to chip away at the ways that we’re wrong today so that we can be a little less wrong tomorrow;

8971.  Certainty is the enemy of growth.  Nothing is for certain until it has already happened and even then it’s still debatable.  That’s why accepting the inevitable imperfections of our lives is necessary for any growth to take place;

8972.  Instead of striving for certainty, we should be in constant search of doubt: doubt about our own beliefs, doubt about our own feelings and doubt about what the future may hold for us unless we get out there and create it for ourselves.  Instead of looking to be right all of the time, we should be looking for how we’re wrong all the time because we are;

8973.  Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change.  Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth;

8974.  We don’t actually know what a positive or negative experience is.  Some of the most difficult and stressful moments of our lives also end up being the most formative and motivating.  Some of the best and most gratifying experiences of our lives are also the most distracting and demotivating.  Don’t trust your conception of positive/negative experiences.  All that we know for certain is what hurts in the moment and what doesn’t;

8975.  Most of what we come to “know” and believe is the product of the innate inaccuracies and biases present in our brains.  Many or even most of our values are products of events that are not representative of the world at large or are the result of a totally conceived past;

8976.  It was assumed that people did bad things because they felt horrible about themselves.  This is often not true.  In fact, it was usually the opposite.  Some of the worst criminals felt pretty good about themselves.  And it was this feeling good about themselves in spite of the reality around them that gave them the sense of justification for hurting and disrespecting others;

8977.  For individuals to feel justified in doing horrible things to other people, they must feel an unwavering certainty in their own righteousness, in their own beliefs and deservedness;

8978.  Evil people never believe that they are evil; rather they believe that everyone else is evil;

8979.  Not only is certainty unattainable, but the pursuit of certainty often breeds more (and worse) insecurity;

8980.  The more you embrace being uncertain and not knowing, the more comfortable you will feel in knowing what you don’t know;

8981.  Uncertainty removes our judgments of others;

8982.  Uncertainty relieves us of our judgment of ourselves;

8983.  Parkinson’s Law: Work expands so as to fill up the time available for its completion;

8984.  Manson’s Law of Avoidance: The more something threatens your identify, the more you will avoid it;

8985.  Manson’s Law applies to both good and bad things in life;

8986.  We all have values for ourselves.  We protect these values.  We try to live up to them and we justify them and maintain them.  Even if we don’t mean to that’s how our brains are wired.  We’re unfairly biased toward what we already know, what we believe to be certain;

8987.  Until we change how we view ourselves, what we believe we are and are not, we cannot overcome our avoidance and anxiety.  We cannot change;

8988.  Buddhism argues that your idea of who “you” are is an arbitrary mental construction and that you should let go of the idea that “you” exist at all; that the arbitrary metrics by which you define yourself actually trap you and, thus, you’re better off letting go of everything;

8989.  When we let go of the stories we tell about ourselves, to ourselves, we free ourselves up to actually act (and fail) and grow;

8990.  There is little that is unique or special about your problems;

8991.  The narrower and rarer the identity you choose for yourself, the more everything will seem to threaten you.  For that reason, define yourself in the simplest and most ordinary ways possible.  This often means giving up some grandiose ideas about yourself: that you’re uniquely intelligent, spectacularly talented, intimidatingly attractive or especially victimized in ways other people could never imagine.  This means giving up your sense of entitlement and your belief that you’re somehow owed something by this world.  This means giving up the supply of emotional highs that you’ve been sustaining yourself on for years;

8992.  Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being.  With freedom comes responsibility.  For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect;

8993.  After LSD . . . check;

8994.  Papa John’s “Shaq-a-Roni” pizza is (pretty) tasty;

8995.  (Adding) orange juice to/in (black) tea is (actually) all right;

8996.  Chances are you wouldn’t put up with anyone else talking to you the way you talk to yourself;

8997.  Popeyes’s chicken sandwich is (pretty) good, but I still like Chick-fil-A’s (chicken sandwich) more;

8998.  Hope is not a strategy.  Luck is not a factor.  Fear is not an option;

8999.  The reduced-fat turkey bacon and cage-free egg white sandwich (without cheese) at Starbucks is (pretty) tasty;

9000.  Would you love you if you met you?