Show and Tell!
Are you smarter than a kindergartner? My son is in Pre-K and has to take a toy to school each week and show it to the class. Each toy must fit into a gallon-sized bag, and before revealing it, he gives three clues to the class to try and guess what it is. I figure I’ll give you a chance to guess as well. This one starts with a ‘B’.
- It is white.
- It has eyes.
- It has a tail.
Look for the answer in next week’s email!
Last week’s answer: Ankylosaurus
Reading a classic with my boy
On my book shelf tonight, I found a copy of Jack London’s Call of the Wild, printed in 1970. So I showed it to my 4-year-old son and he loved the artwork on the cover – a ferocious wolf pack facing off with a big scary dog. He was intrigued, so I started reading. (Photo of the cover)
There are quite a few words he doesn’t know yet, so I checked in with him every couple paragraphs to make sure he knows what’s going on, and why. You may not remember details about the story – I didn’t. It’s about a big strong dog named Buck, told from Buck’s perspective, who grew up on an affluent judge’s California property. After a gardener runs into money trouble, he walks off with the trusting dog and sells him to a stranger.
I was pleasantly surprised with my son’s ability to grasp these concepts – money, trust, betrayal. And he didn’t want to stop reading, in fact, he loved it and is eager to read more tomorrow.
Calendar events made easy
I built an automation to snap a photo of an event’s details to add it automagically to a calendar.
I say, “Siri add a new event” to trigger it on my iPhone, it opens the camera, and sends it out to my company’s automation system, where an event is added to my calendar. Great for a lot of situations, like seeing a concert poster out and about, getting handed an event flyer, or seeing something on your computer that you’d like to add to the calendar.
If you have an iPhone, and you’d like to use this, let me know.
Comfort is the enemy of happiness
This concept was mentioned by Taylor Kitsch, a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, and actor famous for Terminal List and American Primeval. The point he was making struck me: comfort is an illusion that we trick ourselves into thinking is the end goal, the ultimate achievement. You know, when we retire someday we can live in comfort and finally relax. But that’s a lie.
Settling for comfort is the fastest, most direct way to misery. Happiness is found in achievement and results from consistent hard work toward goals. It’s the greatest part of life’s natural reward system: work hard, feel great inside.
Kitsch dives deep into his personal life in this episode. He had a fairly rough upbringing and helped his sister in the depths of drug addiction. He seems to have gone in a positive direction; he’s living now in Bozeman, Montana – a place I once called home.
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