YAY LEARNING

I love learning. And don't call me a dork. 

What will I do this Saturday night? I will watch 4 hours of tutorials on Logic recording software from HowAudio.com. Between that and lynda.com whose slogan is literally "All-you-can-learn" with 35,000 video tutorials on every software imaginable, you could learn anything in the world. You buy a month membership and watch as many tutorials as you want. I LOVE tutorials. Almost as much as I love self-help books.

If every Saturday night, I could do this for a different thing, I would be the smartest person in the world.

SETTLERS

I was introduced to a new board game this weekend that is a mix between Monopoly and Risk (which I've never played). It's called The Settlers of Catan and it's fascinating. 

Saturday, Mom, Dad, Brother and I sat down in front of a crackling fire to play this game over a glass or two of scotch. This really is the definition of a good night for me nowadays: good company, good game, good drink and a warm fire.

I recommend all of the above for anyone looking for a good evening.

JUMP

"What does it mean to take risks? Does it mean being frivolous? Careless? When we take a risk, does it mean that we have to have thought everything through or is there an unknown aspect of "cliff-jumping" that is implicit? 

Like everything in life, there is a balance. And the game is finding that balance for each specific risk. 

But I think that there are those people who are natural risk takers and those who aren't. There are those who will stand on the edge of a cliff and even though they are surprised to find themselves there - even though they had only a brief amount of time to let the fact that they were approaching a cliff decision settle in their mind - those people will will jump. Jump and figure it out. Jump and fall and learn. Jump and fall and fly. Jump and fall and feel satisfied that they jumped at all.

Whether I'm one of those people, I try to be. When I forget I have the courage to jump, I can always seem to find a way back to it. Tonight, it was this:

"I have, let's say, sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I've chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I'm only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards - and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps stand at the beginning of one."

-from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, a character named Howard Roark, 

GOLD

Most people like "Seven" or "Little Red Corvette" or "Purple Rain," but I think my favorite Prince song is a little song no one knows called "Gold" from the album that brought us the classic "The most beautiful girl in the world" (which I also love).

From time to time, I remember it and try to look it up to download, but iTunes doesn't sell it as a single and I googled it and found:

The lame video

The analysis on Wikipedia that begins with this:

"Gold" is a song by Prince (his stage name at that time being an unpronounceable symbol) from his 1995 album The Gold Experience. Obviously proud of the number, Prince was touting the song as the next "Purple Rain" to reporters before the album's release. Indeed, the song is quite anthemic, though it lacks the singalong chorus of "Purple Rain". It is also much more synth-based as opposed to the dominant guitar of "Purple Rain". A rousing guitar solo ispresent in "Gold", but much later in the mix. Another difference between the songs is that "Purple Rain" was recorded live (and later edited in the studio) while "Gold" is a studio creation from the get-go, featuring Prince's multi-layered vocals. The lyrics proclaim "all that glitters ain't gold", instructing the listener to look beneath the surface and not take everything at face value.

But in it, are these interesting pearls of wisdom for a week like this: 

Everybody wants 2 sell what's already been sold
Everybody wants 2 tell what's already been told
What's the use of money if U ain't gonna break the mold?
Even at the center of fire there is cold
All that glitters ain't gold
All that glitters ain't gold

Thanks Prince!

BOOTSTRAPS

When I was in middle school, I did this weird thing. I would be at lunch, and I would all of a sudden get this surge of energy and in front of a table of 10 students begin to hop up and down on my rear-end. To the outside world, I guess it looked like I was nuts, but I just had had too much sugar. So much that I would hop up and down on my butt. 

Well, I don't do that anymore. Mostly because, as I learned in 7th grade, it's not cool to do weird things like that. People will think you're abnormal. But mostly because my energy fits are more spread out now. However, not altogether extinct.

Tonight, at 3am, I find myself sitting in m living room alone watching a West Wing I've already seen, working on my budget. I am not finished my budget work,  but somehow, the "good stopping point" on which I have arrived at this late hour has brought on an energy fit similar to that witnessed at the middle school lunch table. 

I'm not high on caffeine or anything else - in fact, I should probably be ready for bed -  I'm just experiencing the un-cool, yet profoundly "Jon" thing about being me. I get excited when I know the "T's" have been crossed. I feel energized by knowing I know how my money is being spent. Better yet, I feel energized by knowing I can control my spending by looking and analyzing the trends of my past. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Of pride. Pride in discipline. Pride in achievement. I feel like if I'm able to do this, then I can do anything.

And in a world where one day we can feel completely hopeless, useless, and tired, it's worth doing these un-cool, weird, and arguably anal things so that we can utilize anything in our arsenal that may lift us up by our bootstraps if we so wish to be lifted.