Category: the game of life

good stuff, TEOTWAWKI, the game of lifeLeave a comment

WuFlu and the Urban Chicken Movement

therandomtexan

San Antonios have become chickenistas!  Lots of folks are hoping to avoid egg shortages by raising their own chickens. “When we get them in, it’s been a mad dash for the chickens,” said Cathy Sullivan, who works at Strutty’s Feed and Pet Supply store in Spring Branch. “We’ve had shipments of 300 to 350 per week, and everything is getting sold.” Turns out San Antonio was ahead of the curve in urban survivalist planning: The new zeal for backyard flocks comes at a good time here. San Antonio raised the limit of birds per household in the city limits from … Continue reading WuFlu and the Urban Chicken Movement

Higher education, the game of lifeLeave a comment

College is Vastly Overrated

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Charles Cook thinks College Does Not Make You a Better Person. In a 1780 letter to Abigail, John Adams wrote that he “must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy,” while his “sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine.” There is a great deal in this observation, and, within the context of late-18th-century, mid-revolutionary America, Adams’s assessment was spot-on. Nevertheless, were his words to be taken literally, such a progression would eventually … Continue reading College is Vastly Overrated

good stuff, Higher education, teaching, the game of lifeLeave a comment

You can teach yourself

therandomtexan

Tara Westover gives the Big Reveal about education My parents would say to me all the time: you can teach yourself anything better than someone else can teach it to you. Which I really think is true. I hate the the word “disempower,” because it seems kind of cliché, but I do think that we take people’s ability to self-teach away by creating this idea that that someone else has to do this for you, that you have to take a course, you have to do it in some formal way. It took me a long time to learn that … Continue reading You can teach yourself

amazing folks, good stuff, the game of lifeLeave a comment

“I want to make this the best I can for them”

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While the Man dithers in the aftermath of the Camp Fire, trying to get his sh*t togther, the Little Folks get it I say “That seems like a thankless task.” “Not at all,” she replies. “Not at all.” “Really? Why the hell not?” “Hey, I do this job every day in this store. It’s my assigned task and usually its okay but I only do it for the money because it gets really monotonous, meaningless.” She’s a student, I perceive. “But today those people really needed these clothes in this corner because of the price. And tomorrow more people like … Continue reading “I want to make this the best I can for them”

Food and drink, good stuff, the game of life, the grifter eliteLeave a comment

Trash, White Trash, and REAL Trash

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Writing in Oxford American, Chris Offutt’s Trash Food almost gets it right: My thoughts and feelings were completely irrational. I knew they made no sense. Most of what I owned had belonged to someone else—cars, clothes, shoes, furniture, dishware, cookbooks. I liked old and battered things. They reminded me of myself, still capable and functioning despite the wear and tear. and Nevertheless I’d felt compelled to mislead him [my Oxford friend] based on class stigma. I was ashamed—of my fifteen-year-old Mazda, my income, and my rented home. I felt ashamed of the very clothes I was wearing, the shoes on … Continue reading Trash, White Trash, and REAL Trash

dumb ideas, the game of lifeLeave a comment

To tattoo or not tattoo?

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Young, and looking to get a great job?  You might think twice about getting a tatto and sending the world the wrong message: We collect numerous measures of time preferences and impulsivity of tattooed and non-tattooed subjects and find broad-ranging and robust evidence that those with tattoos, especially visible ones, are more short-sighted and impulsive than the non-tattooed. Almost nothing mitigates these results… Don’t think businesses aren’t taking note during that hiring interview. Tip from American Digest Continue reading To tattoo or not tattoo?

amazing folks, good stuff, the game of lifeLeave a comment

Everybody can do something better than you can

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Rachel DiCarlo Currie explains Why We Need a Revival of Humility.  Here’s the money quote Shortly before leaving the Senate, Kyl spoke to Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard and described a childhood trip to his local county fair in Iowa. Upon arriving at the fair, Kyl said, his father made sure that he saw the man who managed parking for the attendees. “He does that better than anyone else,” his father told him. “Everybody can do something better than you can.” Everybody can do something better than you can. Imagine how much different our society would be if each … Continue reading Everybody can do something better than you can