"Just smile and wave boys," he said, as he walked out of the office door. We were going for lunch, and our poor colleague was stuck with the boss. It was a Madagascar reference. A cute, funny scene. But what it reminded me of was a poem by Stevie Smith; not quite as funny; not... Continue Reading →
To be like dirt
Flowers grow on dirt; manure. On diamonds? Never. May I be like dirt. May those who encounter me grow and bloom.
Getting the most bang for your charitable buck
I just received a mailer from Effective Altruism, via which I do a monthly donation to charity. The mailer asked me to rate from 1 to 10, with 1 being least likely and 10 being most, how likely I would be to recommend Effective Altruism to a friend. I gave it a 10. And since... Continue Reading →
Memory
Just the other day I stood waiting to cross the street. As the cars passed in front of me I started thinking about how odd it'd be if one of these cars were to veer a little to the left. Maybe a crying child; maybe a bad day at work; maybe the shadow of a... Continue Reading →
Doing the right thing poorly
I was halfway through reading the book Flying Without a Net by Thomas J. when I came across the following brilliant insight: in order to improve a particular skill, we have to first start by recognising that however we are performing that skill may not be the best way of doing so, and that to... Continue Reading →
Winning first place without ever being first
Or: what I learned from playing too much DiRT Rally (one of my favourite rally racing games.) So here's the context: I'm playing "career mode", in which I buy a car, hire a couple of engineers, and go out to race. In order to win the championship, I have to have the best time across... Continue Reading →
The Cloths of Heaven
One of my best friends got married over the weekend. The first of my close friends whose wedding I attended, and it might be a little unmanly to say it but I was actually quite moved by it. Last night, as I was reading through the compendium of beautiful poems by Garrison Keillor aptly named... Continue Reading →
Claiming my life back
It's been two months since I last updated hasn't it? Quite unbelievable really. I haven't gone this long without an update since... maybe ten years ago? (I always made it a point of one update each month, at least...) But I've been busy. Busiest time of my life perhaps. Work and school have absolutely consumed... Continue Reading →
A poor workman blames his tools
There is this idiom that goes something like this: a poor workman always blames his tools (a Google search reveals this might be better known as a bad workman always blames his tools, but I digress). Having grown up with the idiom oft-repeated to me by my mom, its grown to be such an innate... Continue Reading →
Programming in Python
Did I mention that I am learning (and have learned) to program in Python at Codeacademy and am loving it? (Unbiased plug: if you want to learn to program, doesn't have to be Python, try Codeacademy!) Sometimes I think that I'm such a nerd: reading programming books in the train; programming for fun at night;... Continue Reading →
Donn, fragments 