From businesses we’ve never heard of, to countries we’ve never visited, to infants who’ve had the random misfortune to be born into a family that’s on TV – it’s all grist for obvious jokes and shortsighted commentary that, for at least a few minutes, helps both the maker and the consumer feel a little less bored, a little less vulnerable, and a little less disconnected. For a minute, anyway, it makes us feel more alive. Does me, anyway.

But, in my observation, the long-term effect of each of these can be surprisingly different.

What makes you feel less bored soon makes you into an addict. What makes you feel less vulnerable can easily turn you into a dick. And the things that are meant to make you feel more connected today often turn out to be insubstantial time sinks – empty, programmatic encouragements to groom and refine your personality while sitting alone at a screen.

An absolutely brilliant post. Don't miss this one.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

Man, I love these kinds of stories.

The consistent work enhanced my act. I Learned a lesson: It was easy to be great. Every entertainer has a night when everything is clicking. These nights are accidental and statistical: Like the lucky cards in poker, you can count on them occurring over time. What was hard was to be good, consistently good, night after night, no matter what the abominable circumstances.

A surplus of ideas is as dangerous as a drought.

Idea-to-idea syndrome is the tendency to launch new ideas while still executing other ideas. As soon as an idea becomes an active project, we become burdened by the minutia of execution. Long days and late nights cause us to get lost in what I have come to call the "project plateau"—the part of a project when excitement and energy run low and the end is still out of sight. The quickest escape from the project plateau is simple. Conceive a new idea. Immediately, when you get excited about something new and shiny, your hopes lift as your creative juices kick in. But, as a result, your previous idea is left stranded in the project plateau amidst other carcasses of abandoned ideas.

Excellent.

Simple enough...

“ ’Tis the gift to be simple,” the Shakers sing. Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks take vows of poverty. Why? A new study published online in May in Psychological Science offers a hint. Money—even the thought of it—reduces satisfaction from life’s simple pleasures.

Studies have shown that a person’s ability to savor experiences predicts their degree of happiness.

Mixing some metaphors about nature and total ignorance, I had gotten out of the weeds only to see trees. Years later when I could see the forest, I realized that my proud moment hadn’t accomplished anything (minor convenience for a small population of users, inconvenience/confusion for a big population of users). The goal of the project was actually to allow for a second phase around business intelligence or some such thing. That never happened and I’m told now that the system is now being phased out.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.” ~ Steve Jobs

Ever since that realization, I’ve been working to figure out for myself how to maximize the impact of the work I do.

Excellent.

Plant something and nurture it

Count your blessings - at least five - at the end of each day

Take time to talk - have an hour-long conversation with a loved one each week

Phone a friend whom you have not spoken to for a while and arrange to meet up

Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it

Have a good laugh at least once a day

Get physical - exercise for half an hour three times a week

Smile at and/or say hello to a stranger at least once each day

Cut your TV viewing by half

Spread some kindness - do a good turn for someone every day

Erik, who is living with liver cancer, has always wanted to be a superhero. On Thursday, the regional chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted him that wish with an elaborate event that involved hundreds of volunteers in Bellevue and Seattle.

The local chapter, which serves four states, grants more than 300 wishes every year to children with life-threatening medical conditions, but only a few of them involve so many participants.

Damn pollen.