neither pleasure nor pain

"You don't need tons of IQ in this business. It's temperamental not intellectual ... I'm in Omaha, Nebraska because Wall Street overstimulates."
- Warren Buffet [born 1930], CEO multi-conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway

I am so smart

 

defied the Soviets

"The harder life is for a man when he is young, the easier it will be in the future."
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn [1918-2008]

Writer of "Fight Club" talks bullies

He notes that it's about humiliation and mainly making up for classroom learning difficulties. And that beauty as a child can be a liability as it makes one a target. 

 

A taste of Spring

An elevated NYC park built on old railway tracks.

Russia-Ukraine

 

I am not your negro

A "radical examination of race in America" here. Baldwin said he left America for Paris with only $40 in his pocket to roam the streets as he couldn't do any worse than the USA with all the racism.

led the transcendentalist movement

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882]

Want a home in Thunder Bay?

 

monomania

... to believe true whatever one wants to be true:

Christopher Columbus [1451-1506] believed India and Cathay were just 3,900 miles west of the Canaries. 

you don't have a solid and promising business

"You're A Want-A-Preneur."
- Mark Cuban [born 1958]

on ageism

 

Le Hôtel de Crillon, Paris

"Is she too young for this? On the contrary. It's really about her people keeping up with her velocity. She's a Big Kahuna in the hospitality industry."
- Tony Chi [Wiki profile here] on Sonia Cheng [born 1980], proprietor bespoke hotelier behemoth Rosewood.

unexpectedly happy

 

10% of GDP comes from workers moving abroad and sending money home. 

If a message says "Not Available in Your Country," Google "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown Manila" and it'll pop up so you can watch. Dumb restriction as Bourdain is dead - it's the lawyers.

was a surgeon but hated it so got an MBA and became a management consultant

Ethan says earning an MBA was harder than medical school.

Price Gouging

 

PayDay loan for Pizza

 

 

Now there's a 60 day loan scheme to pay for a $15 pizza.

blood relative

 

Secured French financing for the American Revolution while bathing with the wives of European nobility.

Trauma Bonding

David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians © Sipa Press/Rex/Shutterstock

1. "Trauma Bonding" can be used in the context of grad school where you become friends with others of the shared hard experience.
2. The other more traditional interpersonal context develops out of a repeated cycle of abuse, devaluation, and positive reinforcement. It creates powerful feelings one struggles to make sense of, especially when abuse alternates with kindness and intimacy. Many abusive relationships begin with a shower of affection and assurances of love. When the abuse begins, it may take one by surprise. Afterward, the abuser might apologize, swear to change, or insist “I was just upset.” These attempts to manipulate often succeed, since one remembers the early days of the relationship and believe they can be that person again.

More here.

Still Eating and Mating

Born in 1832, 190 year old Jonathan the Tortoise is the world's oldest living land animal. Story here.

poverty alleviation, access to education, civil rights

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt [1884-1962]

wide distribution

Gabriel Metsu, “Man Writing a Letter”

Desiderius Erasmus [1466-1536] translated the NewTestament from ancient Greek to Latin taking it out of the hands of Priests to the common people.

tricky

California property taxes could only be levied on finished projects, which is why William Randolph Hearst [1863-1951] never completed San Simeon.

heads up

Ancient Romans would knock the heads off of old statues and replace them with new ones as "Generals would come and go."

writer and actor brawl

 

Norman Mailer [1923-2007] vs. Rip Torn [1931-2019] fighting over who knows what.

control the present moment

"We suffer more in imagination than reality."
- Seneca [c. 4 BCE-65 AD]

fear, helplessness, horror

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] has two components: One is having been in an extremely stressful situation, and secondly, having reacted to it with an intense emotional response.

naïve red-headed housewife

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.”

– Lucille Ball [1911-1989]

Tesla's $3k prototype e-bike

 

Rumoured to have a 150 mile range and self-driving capability.

measured comic motion

“Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.”
- Issac Newton [1643 - 1727]

Filipino clothing designer likes watches

 

J. R. R. Tolkien was a close friend

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

― C.S. Lewis [1898-1963]

Buddhist Proverb

Bagan, Myanmar

“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”

cultural genocide

Chief Wilton Littlechild "Kill the Indian, Save the Man."

Promoted by Canada's first Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald [1815-1891], 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their homes to "civilize" them; not less than 1500 were killed. Video here.

gratuity

Superyacht guests are expected to tip 10% of costs, which could easily approach half a million dollars.

spread ideas

A consequence of the Black Death which eliminated a third to half of the medieval population was that an abundance of extra cloth from the deceased were available to make rag paper which was used on the newly invented printing press. 

What does an addict need to change to kick addiction?

According to the Westover Treatment Centre in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, just one thing-everything. Come Clean follows addicts through a 19-day residential substance dependence program and 18 months following release, as they attempt to break the habits that have delivered them to the brink of ruin. Video here.

depression isn't a chemical imbalance?

 

popularized the essay

"... on the loftiest throne in the world we are still sitting on our own behind."
- Michel de Montaigne [1533-1592]

collective behaviour

 "10% dictate where the other 90% go."