Other Things I Have Been Thinking About Or I Still Don't Think Duke Is That Good

1.  I have really cut back my visits to Wal-Mart.  It is just too busy.  I still think Wal-Mart has a great business model.  But it just isn't a good place for me to get groceries.  Other grocery stores have gotten more competitive.  Their ads tend to be just as good or beat Wal-Mart on key products.

2.  I broke my glasses last night.  I wear glasses an hour a day.  But I think I am going to have to go Wal-Mart to get them fixed.  My glasses are five years old, but I would hate to get a new pair.  I might be able to super-glue them.  Tape didn't work.

3.  I really want to make a commitment to fitness.  But I haven't been able to pick a plan and stick with it.  I know the plan will involve interval training.  And I think I could get the results I want in less than 20 minutes a day.  I am also thinking about strengthening my core, but I have never been able to sustain a rigorous core workout.

4.  The NCAA tournament is fun, but I still think in a 7-game series Kansas and Kentucky are your best teams.

Things I Have Been Thinking About

1.  I am predicting that no number 1 seeds make it to the Final Four.  Baylor is too athletic for Duke.

2.  I have been reading some of What's Alan Watching?  It amazes me that a man can make a living evaluating sitcoms and other TV shows.  It is one of these great credits to American economic growth  I think it also points to the role of luck in developed society.  I like Sepinwall, but I have to believe that there are hundreds of other people who could do what he does.  But these people aren't getting paid for writing about The Office.  I feel similarly about Bill Simmons and the majority of sports writers.  Note that I think all of these guys possess a unique combination of talent and discpline.  I just think that luck is in the equation too.

3.  I am not sure the NCAA basketball tournament gives us the best team.  It is exciting.  Can't the same be said about the BCS?

4.  I spent yesterday cleaning my apartment so I could show it to people.  It is cleaner than it was, but it will never be completely clean.  I had an uncle who said "If you have an inside dog, your house will always be dirty."  I am modifying that "If you have a young man on his own, your house will always be dirty."

5.  But I feel like I am getting older.  I get up at the same time (6:05AM) every morning even on the weekends.  I have all of these rituals that I have to complete in the morning before I feel like I can move forward in my day.  I guess it is growth.   

   

Pat Jordan Does Spring Break

Here.  It is a three part series.  The third part I linked to is the best.

This form of gonzo-journalism with a S.O.B. who doesn't give a damn has to have a market.  I could read Pat Jordan all day.  

Graduation Rates And Chances

Johnny was a coach's son.  He tried to play linebacker where the fastest strong athletes played.  He tried to play defensive end where the fast strongest guys played.  Like myself, Johnny was neither fast nor strong.  But he was a coach's son and ended up being a student assistant his senior year.

Johnny wasn't too bright either, but he got his PE degree.  He was a coach's son.  I am sure he is a coach now.  The thing is football and sports does things like this: It connects fathers and sons.  It gets boys into and through school.  It gives them chances and reasons to succeed.   

There is always a lot of attention on Division I programs and their graduation rates.  In Division I, some guys have a chance at playing professionally.  More guys think they have a chance at playing professionally.  Some of these guys will graduate.  Others won't.  The important thing is they have been given a chance.  Sports and scholarships and coaches give boys' chances.  That is what is important.         

History And Dreams Or Why I Am Not A History Teacher Or Expectations

When I started college, I wanted to be a history teacher.  I took History 101 and Education 101 my first semester.  I didn't want to be a history teacher anymore.

Most people are history teachers.  People paint the past and go around selling their art.  GGM and I have had a mini-discussion of boxing in the comments section.  We've both been able to go back and watch fights from our childhood on YouTube.  We've been able to relive history.  And we take that history and create something out of it.  Something that is unique.  We are our own historians.

When I started this blog, I had no expectations.  I remember someone telling me to stop asking advice concerning things that aren't worthy of advice.  I had some ambition to be a MarginalRevolution.com or a CafeHayek.com, but I really wanted a place to voice thoughts.  I wanted a place be my own historian.

(I can't lie and say I don't want more people to read my histories.  I can't lie and say I don't want somebody to say:  "Wow, that post slapped me in the face" like this did to me.  But blogging is really about keeping oneself sane.  It is therapeutic.  Too many things in the brain makes one crazy.)

But the point here is that one has to have expectations.   One has to move past personal histories and have some desire for the future.  One has to dream.  One has to want something better.  One has to make(or at least think they can make) expectations become history.  This is why I am not a history teacher.      

Things I Have Come To Learn

1.  Most medical students, young doctors have an arrogance about them.  I know this is a generalization.  But I think it is relevant to our current healthcare debate.  There is some adverse selection going on in the doctor market.  There is a good book called  Learning to Play God that delves in why young doctors are the way they are.

2.  If you want to keep playing, you have to win.  The one thing I have learned from economics is if you're not successful, you don't keep going.

3.  I have to either shave every two-three days or grow a beard.  Anything in-between is torture to my face.

    

 

Socks

The three most expensive pairs of socks I have every bought have holes in them after less than a year.  This is frustrating.    

Two Things

1.  I've been listening to talk radio and talk podcasts.  On Wednesday, I cranked up a music CD.  I felt better about life.  Talk radio has its qualities.  But there isn't anything like good rock and roll, some song or album that you have listened to a hundred times before, but you still hear something that makes you think, makes you want to live.

2.  I have two Wal-Mart coffee makers.  One is the old version.  It has a white plastic coffee holder.  Even with paper filters, the white plastic becomes stained.  The new version uses black plastic.  How are these types of improvements tracked in terms of "Are we better off?" questions.  Both of these coffee makers cost less than $10.  I have had both for over two years.  I find this amazing.
        

The Culture I Married Into

 

Compliments

This post builds on this one and this one.

A new one for the list of compliments I care about.  People have told me that I make things mine.  This is similar to the "honest" compliment.  But it involves something else.  My fifth grade teacher said I wasn't creative enough, and to me the definition of creativity is personalizing projects.  The things I really care about and have pride about are distinctly mine.  It also demonstrates courage to make things personal.  Courage is another trait I appreciate and wish I had more of.    

"A Day Late And A Dollar Short" Or But They Didn't Win

1.  I know I am a couple of days late.  But I was invested in Olympic hockey.  And the US didn't win.  Every few years a country (even the US) needs a good sports story.  But you have to win to make it a truly "good" story.  If they would have won, I would have been more interested in the NHL.  Hockey is a great game.  It is so fast, and the lack of commercials makes it better too.  But it still isn't anything I will follow.  I have to find a NHL team.

2.  I guess there is still the World Cup, but I am starting to realize that the US just doesn't produce top quality soccer players.

3.  I realized that one of my many weaknesses is an inability to execute.  This comes through in talks and writing.  Most of the time my initial idea is okay and worth discussing.  But I just don't pull it through.  I don't take the idea to its fruition.  This is something I can work on.