In a conversation with a friend, someone I’ve never liked much came up and before I could verbalize that, they proceeded to tell me something very nice that person had said about me. Here was someone I’ve never liked, a fact that’s always colored my interaction with them, treating me with respect I couldn’t even afford to them.

We both faced the same situation: I went one way, he went the other. But which path, if you cut away, would you prefer people to assume you took?

If we had no faults, we should not take so much pleasure in noting those of others. – de la Rochefoucauld

Natural History, Volume III, Books 8-11 by Pliny the Elder (8-11 are the books about zoology and animals. it is the funniest book I have read in a long time. good anecdotes on Roman bloodsports. it’s online)

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (he has the amazing ability to write in the present, even about events that are 50 years old)

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout (not as good as Gift of Fear but something you should read)

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin (meh)

Love, War and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans by Eric Scigliano (love elephants)

This lecture on Marcus Aurelius is one of the best lectures I’ve seen in my life. His take is that Marcus is a “standing reproach to our self-indulgence.” You should watch it.

What Are Your Flaws? (I don’t think I’m mature enough yet to answer this question but I am thinking about. )

Voices from the Suburban Blogosphere New York Times (I think this is going to be a very important trend)

Here’s the dirty secret about reporters: they steal from Wikipedia. Shamelessly, in fact. How do I know? Because I see things I wrote for articles magically paraphrased in all sorts of press – collections of facts that did not exist before I collected them.

Bloggers do for their posts. People do it for their opinions. Investors do it for their trading strategies. Reporters do it for their stories. Wikipedia, for all its inaccuracies, is the jumping off point for things we’d never question trusting. And yet, what company do you know that has ever meaningful contributed to community that has the ability to define them?

When you think about influence, think about where it comes from. In other words, it’s not the trendsetting magazines that are important but the places where they find out about trends. That’s where you go because the rest is just too inefficient.

But remember, that’s a very substantial power. Abuse makes it meaningless.

(Also, if I wasn’t physically unable to fit one more thing in my day, I would jump on this opportunity just for fun)