Old ends well begone. Leeching hope for the last hours.  Hours, just hours, to new.    Daily Stoic: Time to do.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Daily Shakespeare: The Tempest, Act 5, Scene 1

The problem is that  I think I have all the time.  I don't. Be better.    Daily Stoic: Keeping calm in an emergency is tough for me. I find myself calming after a minute or two, but that first minute . . . well, let's just say that I learned not to make decisions in that first 60 seconds, if possible.  Short of the sort of scenario training I don't have access to, I'm not sure what I can do to improve my stress / emergency response.  Research time!  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:   Daily Shakespeare: Sonnet 154

A day late, buck short.  How many misses this year? No matter. Abide.    Daily Stoic: A short entry, coming in a day late. No worries.  I heard once that, if two groups of people go on a cruise, one group in their 20s and the other in their 50s, the older group will end the trip with more new friends than the younger group.  Why? Because they have learned, through more experience, that life is better if you are nice and approach people with friendship in mind.  I think that's a part of what Seneca means here. By offering positive, unabashed friendliness to strangers, and not feeling the self-doubt and shyness that handcuffs the younger cohort, I am showing my gratitude.  I know that I like life better when I am nice to people — offering an extra compliment to a server; giving a salesperson at a store a happy smile and asking how they're doing; assuming people are good and deserve my best. These make them happier and that makes me happier. We all win.  Today's Me

Focus focus foc. — Us. Obligate failure point. — Internal? Or ex? Daily Stoic: All those people, those memories and that knowledge, the infinite personal, detailed, local information that has disappeared from the universe altogether . . . . When I die, I can't take my knowledge with me.  And I certainly can't share it all (at least, not until mind-duplication or upload become a reality).  Hells, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. Since I and my individual fount will perish, what can I do?  What the hell makes a difference?  Who cares why not just be a nihilist and get it over with? I can do two things: 1. I can teach my children how to be the best people they can be.  If anything, I expect that that will be my infinitesimal legacy to humanity.  Perhaps someday my distant progeny will change the world and save humanity like action heroes in a space opera. 2. I can realize that changing the world isn't the point .  Changing myself is the point.  Doi

Silver-wingéd shapes wait Quietly on hardened ground.  Soaring? Future. Soon.    Daily Stoic: Usually, I have the opposing problem: the body could  go on if I made it, but my will is not up to the challenge.  I should push myself more: do what needs be done; finish what must be finished.  How much has slipped by in my life because I lacked the "spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" moment?  Time to make my spirit more willing.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Meditation III: Daily Shakespeare: Twelfth Night | Act 5 Scene 1

Football. Food. Fam'ly.  Presents aplenty, split per.  Food out our gills. Stuft.  Daily Stoic: Do I use my time well? I often remember to spend time with my kids. I also often lose the evening as my phone owns my attention.  Do I use my time well? I often remember to spend time reading classical works and authors. I also often overeat or oversleep instead of exercising or getting things done.  Do I use my time well? I often remember to show my loved ones how much they mean to me. I also often avoid people so I can watch a show or game.  There's been progress, but there's still much room to grow.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II:

Christmas day frenzy Paper flying ev'rywhere.  But wait! There's one more!    Daily Stoic: I'm pretty good about work / life balancing. I recognized a long time ago that "It's a job, not a jail," and have, at least fairly successfully, divorced my self-worth from my employment. This has allowed me to avoid the stereotypical problems of overwork and underplay: burnout and stagnation; depression and anger;  frustration and envy and all of the other negative emotions that come from  killing myself for a job I mistakenly let become a central part of my identity.  =========== So last night, I was with my extended family having Christmas dinner and opening presents, and it struck me how incredibly, insanely, incomprehensively blessed we are.  We had a dozen people who live overly comfortable lives, eating sumptuous food prepared by skilled cooks, connected through sharing interesting and touching stories from our lives showing common values and backgroun

O, Rhetoric! You Art of Elegance and Style.  A bit of panache!    Daily Stoic: I am temporary.  Foodstuffs feasted and beer binged, videos viewed and art appreciated, lyrics listened and trips taken, and everything inside my mind, fresh or memorial . . . these things I experience die with me.  I've heard sublime music and seen rare and beautiful art, marveled at the veil portrayed in marble and the emotion captured in a photo or a painting. I've tasted food that can only be described as holy and drunk potions as magical a flavor as has ever been crafted.  If this temptation passes by, that's ok.  I am satisfied without it.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Daily Shakespeare: Love's Labours Lost | Act 1, Scene 1 =========== From Ward Farnsworth, Classical English Rhetoric, Chapter 2. Structural Matters : 10. Using Extra Conjunctions: POLYSYNDETON  (pp. 128-146 ) Technical term:  POLYSYNDETON (po-ly-sin-de-