Quote of the Day

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing. It's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it. 

- Margaret Thatcher

Art Break: Kley

Muddy Colors: Greg Ruth looks at the work of Heinrich Kley.

Back in Town

A meeting in Flagstaff today. It was more than welcome since Phoenix hit around 117 degrees and Flagstaff is in the pines. The meeting was a board meeting for a state agency and it was held in a barn. Rather charming.

On the way up, I watched the wild life. Beautiful scenery and a whiff of skunk.

And, as always, lots of thoughts. A trip can be an exercise in creativity.

Hit the Beach

LeRoy Grannis at Esquire: Six photos of surfing culture at its peak.

"The Hardest-Working Dogs on Earth"

From Will Grant's article in Outside magazine:

A ranch dog’s sensitivity to tone and direction develops from the constant, everyday handling. Barring an injury, which would happen every six months or so, the dogs spend all day, every day with you. It’s a working relationship. The smart ones will be better company and harder workers than a hired man—and drink less alcohol and tear up fewer pickups. The dogs complement the workplace. They’re part of the ranch, and the ranch is part of them.

"Someone will do something about it."

• "The caliber of leadership has declined."
• "Our borders are porous."
• "Maniacs are trying to get nuclear weapons."
• "The culture is becoming vulgar."
• "Civility is declining."
• "Slavery still exists in the world."
• "You can't fire bad teachers."
• "The illegitimacy rate has soared."
• "Bureaucrats have too much power."
• "Free speech is being shackled on campuses."
• "Privacy is shrinking."
• "Political rhetoric is increasingly vicious."
• "Excuses are made for hoodlums."
• "People are scrambling just to keep up."

"Hey, don't worry. Someone will do something about it."

Pick one.

The Official Friday Song of This Blog

The Cure with, well, you know.

Crank it up.

Quote of the Day

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. 

- Helen Keller

Best of Enemies

The trailer for the new documentary about William F. Buckley, Jr. and Gore Vidal.

Mean People Fail

It struck me recently how few of the most successful people I know are mean. There are exceptions, but remarkably few.

Meanness isn't rare. In fact, one of the things the internet has shown us is how mean people can be. A few decades ago, only famous people and professional writers got to publish their opinions. Now everyone can, and we can all see the long tail of meanness that had previously been hidden.

And yet while there are clearly a lot of mean people out there, there are next to none among the most successful people I know. What's going on here? Are meanness and success inversely correlated?

Read all of Paul Graham's 2014 essay here.