Category: 🩷 Show

Have A Positive Attitude

The lives of two sisters and mothers with very different attitudes shows the incredible power of humans and the mind to drastically influence and affect their life and the lives of those around them, negatively for the worse or positively for the better.

A Negative Attitude

• One sister lives in an idyllic and spacious two story home with fences and a nice backyard
• She has one healthy son and a kind hard-working husband who provides everything for her
• She has no job and does not have to work because her husband makes all of the money
• She is very negative, pessimistic, depressed, hateful, fearful, hurtful, frowny, and angry
• She is afraid of almost everything including all living beings, and even nature and plants
• This sister thinks negatively despite an easy life, appreciates nothing, and hates life

The Negative Result

• One sister constantly criticizes and complains to salespeople, doctors, and anyone she sees
• She constantly yells at her husband and doesn't appreciate him or give him any affection
• She constantly berates her overweight son, doesn't love him or accept him or his passions
• She is resentful towards her deceased mother and feels her childhood was very difficult
• She doesn't thank her son at all or want to touch the flowers he got her for Mother's Day
• This sister thinks negatively, acts poorly towards others, so she feels depressed and upset

A Positive Attitude

• One sister lives in a small, run-down, upper floor apartment which she adorns with plants
• She has two healthy daughters and she no longer has a husband or anyone who helps her
• She works hard as a hairdresser and makes all the money to support her and her daughters
• She is very positive, optimistic, content, grateful, hopeful, helpful, smiley, and happy
• She is peaceful with everything and everyone, including upset customers, and loves nature
• This sister thinks positively despite a hard life, appreciates what she has, and enjoys life

The Positive Result

• One sister listens to her friends, her customers, and enjoys providing a service to everyone
• She loves her daughters, who enjoy being around her and are talkative and playful with her
• She supports her daughters, who exercise and help her any way they can around the house
• She is respectful towards her deceased mother and feels that her childhood was enjoyable
• She appreciates the small things like a glass of wine with her plants after a tough work day
• This sister thinks positively, acts kindly towards others, so she feels content and happy

Hard Truths - Rotten Tomatoes

December 4th, 2025

Hi Lola. "Worry is interest paid on trouble before it comes due." - William Ralph Inge

• I wonder if worry and anxiety about a possible negative future are best turned into a grateful and hopeful mindset for what is good about today, and how positive the future could be if we dream for it.
• It may be that the things that truly affect us negatively often happen out of the blue, and we are more resilient and able to cope with those events than we realize. A grateful and hopeful mindset may help us enjoy what we have today, and make a future that is happier and better.

Brb experiencing crippling existential panic about the singularity and the impending irrelevance of humanity - Lola Blanc

April 20, 2024

Hey xkcdHatGuy. Great video on the socialization of intelligence, I really enjoyed it and I always like hearing your thoughts and ideas on everything. Here are a few of my thoughts on just a couple of the major concepts you touched upon.

On Psychology

TLDR - I agree that improving the psychology, intelligence, practical knowledge, and life improvement skills of everyone throughout their life may be crucial.

• I agree that it is always worth getting ideas and opinions from everyone, and listening to everyone, as great ideas for ways of living and different perspectives could ultimately come from anyone or anywhere.
• I agree that improving the overall intelligence, memory, learning ability, and psychological functioning of everyone will always be very beneficial and worth pursuing instead of only focusing on or relying on tools and technological advancement.
• I agree that we can and should continue to improve the tools and ways in which we come up with, debate, organize, implement, simplify, and teach new ideas, policies, habits, practices, and ways of living which could make life and society easier, better, fairer, and happier for everyone.

Continued... >

Hey Huliatt. Here are some practical ideas to help build an identity, which you might consider.

Habits

• Affirmations - Write down and read positive thoughts and ideas of what you want to be.
• Hobbies - Write down different hobbies you enjoy doing, separate from your work role.
• Goals - Write down a list of goals, activities, and things you want to achieve or do.
• Tasks - Write down 3 tasks you want to do today or tomorrow, in the morning or evening.
• Journal - Write down your thoughts on things, as well as things you are grateful for.
• Health - Exercise, eat healthy, don't smoke, meditate to improve your brain and body.

Quotes

• "Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny"
• "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit."
• When reading the first quote, you might replace character with identity, a synonym.
• You might replace excellence too, maybe with growth, wellness, happiness, character.

July 22, 2023

Hey xkcdHatGuy. Here are some of my thoughts on your thoughts in "Isolation in post-modernity".

Intro

• I am likely wrong about all of this and it's written tersely and impolitely
  • So take my thoughts and suggestions with a grain of salt and read between lines
• Well said, people being afraid to talk about politics and ideas makes sense
  • So only talk about political and societal ideas with friends who would like to do so
• Here is one video talking about people's inflexibility on society and policy ideas
  • So realize and accept you will face resistance with ideas and being authentic
  • Who do we discriminate against the most? - Bite Size Psych

Notes

1. People all find it difficult to make and keep close friends and partners
   • So accept and understand you're not the only one with trouble connecting deeply
   • Battle Of Someone - Blues Traveler
2. People don't care about someone's work in general, in your case your ideas on society
   • So make work friends and talk with fans who share your interest in debating ideas
   • Think And Grow [Dreams] - Goodreads
3. People want to be happy and have fun, not talk about ideas or policies for living
   • So learn to have personal experiences with friends where you don't talk about work
   • Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
4. People do form relationships to get something from someone else, as you said
   • So focus on others' interests, likes, wants, and things they want to do or talk about
   • How To Win Friends And Influence People - Goodreads
5. Being yourself is authentic, but might not make someone likeable, friendly, or popular
   • So decide when you want to be yourself, and if or when to try and fit in with people
   • Ego - Bibi Bourelly
6. We feel happiness doing what we want, and being of service and useful for society
   • So find a balance between doing things you want and doing things to help others
   • Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - Goodreads

Quote

• It's dangerous to try and really connect with someone. It's so special when you can find a person you can be yourself with. - Halt and Catch Fire

Isolation in post-modernity - xkcdHatGuy YouTube

July 19, 2023

Hey Derek.

Explorer versus Leader? Both.
Perceiving versus Judging? Both.
Flexible versus Structure? Both.
Dreaming versus Planning? Both.

Balance Both Sides (Nature Versus Nurture)

You are likely right, but I will add that the concepts of complementarity, dualism, yin and yang, and balance are convincing and worth remembering as well. I wonder if it's not exploring that makes a bad leader, but being an excessive explorer and dreamer without having the balance of also being a leader and planner. As an example, imagine if I theorized and wrote "Drinkers are bad leaders". Yes, an excessive alcoholic who is drinking too much all of the time would probably be a bad leader. But I wonder if a person could be both a drinker and a good leader if they balance their drinking with moderation. One could even postulate that being a moderate drinker, or moderate explorer, could make someone a better leader.

Explorers are bad leaders - Derek Sivers

March 16, 2023

Hi Nemo. I couldn't stop myself from writing down some thoughts I had for you after listening to you in a few of your streams. I know you likely won't get a chance to read it since it's long, but it was just enjoyable for me to write anyway. You might want to check out the TLDR sentences someday for a few book and media picks if anything. Best wishes for a great 2023 Nemo.

Intro - On My First Time Checking Out Twitch

TLDR - I have to admit, learning about Twitch has been fascinating

I gave in and started watching Twitch for the first time around a couple weeks ago if you can believe it, partly to learn and understand what it's all about, including watching some of the chess side of it. I saw quite a bit of Anna Cramling's live tournament, as well as quite a bit of of your recent streams, starting with playing Jennifer, up until the one the day after your birthday. Even though I will likely find the resolve to stop watching Twitch, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to you and learning about you and your crazy mind, and here are some thoughts I had at different times.

Continued... >

I watched the movie The Double last week. After watching it, I went to read about it and came across a question from someone on Stack Exchange Movies.

So I started out writing my thoughts about whether or not James was real, as well as an idea I had about what was going on in the movie. I ended up re-watching it and writing an explanation for what I think was happening in the movie. I definitely recommend the movie so go check it out sometime if you haven't. The movie is kind of about self-improvement, as I think the main character is struggling and trying to improve his life. He runs into some serious personal problems trying to make his life better. However, I really just wrote this because I wanted to. Enjoy.

Who is James in “The Double (2013)”?

I saw the movie The Double this morning, a very strange movie. I didn't understand the exact plot of the movie. I've read the plot in IMDB and Wikipedia too, but I don't get it. Can somebody explain this movie in simple English? My main question is "Who is James and does he really exist?"

Continued... >

Thank You Company Anonymous

Hey all you people from Company Anonymous. And to everyone else who might read this, hi Mom. I'll probably remove this post in a couple weeks so get it while it's still here. It has sure been a crazy, overwhelming, fun, exciting, monotonous, difficult, challenging, and rewarding experience moving to Town Anonymous and working here this past year. I really have learned a lot and I certainly didn't know what I was getting into. It was a great challenge to work here and I had a lot of great days and learned a lot of different things about people, consultant businesses, sales, GIS, and most importantly about software development. I think I probably listen and pick things up a lot more than people realize.

The most important thing I want to say to everyone is that when I was given something to do and really work on something with you or for you, I enjoyed it way more than you'd realize. I know I can seem like quite a curmudgeon sometimes, but I really am a person who likes doing things, and working together on things. I really like to try and focus on work and enjoy getting into it, whether it's working with someone or by myself. And I did have some difficulty trying to do that here sometimes with some different distractions. But honestly, the only thing I didn't like doing was when I was doing data entry and finding reports all by myself. Even making maps for a little bit was kind of fun as it felt like I was helping out, especially the one weekend to try and meet a deadline.

Continued... >

I expect that I am going to be writing posts to this blog more often. It's not that I have a whole bunch of more ideas that I want to post. I do have a pretty big list of ideas to write about which I have kept for a couple years even though I haven't written many posts yet. It's just that I've been thinking about writing on my blog a bit more and realized that the biggest reason I don't write on it is because it takes me too long to make a post. So I've decided if I actually want to use my blog a bit more, which I do, that I will have to make it simpler to make posts.

Ways I Will Make It Simpler To Post To My Blog

1. I Removed All The Pictures And Won't Be Using Pictures

Having pictures really makes a blog better for people who are reading it. But this blog is more for me to write down my ideas and thoughts anyway. Not having to deal with making pictures for all the posts will save me a bunch of time and will allow me to quickly make posts. When I removed the pictures I also went through my blog posts and formatted them all similarly and decided on how I would format my new posts. I won't have to think about adding pictures or formatting my posts anymore, but can just focus on what I want to write.

2. I Will Keep My Blog Online Only And Use The Built In Editor

I used to write blog posts offline in text files or word files and keep them on my computer. Then I would just copy what I had written and add a picture online. Editing offline has advantages but it's not nearly as simple as just posting online, and keeping it online only has other advantages too. I can also edit from any computer now obviously which is a plus. I deleted all the offline copies of my posts and will edit and keep my blog online only. This is the main change that will make it easier and quicker to make posts. I've given in to just keep my blog entries online only, just like when I switched to GMail for my mail a †few years†ago. I don't really know why I thought I needed a copy in text files offline. Writing this blog post was a lot easier to get done than my old system of editing offline and then posting after. To make this easier I also made a couple changes to the online editor such as adding more lines to it. Now it feels a bit more like editing offline.

3. I Installed The Wordpress App On My iPad

Just in case I want to edit on my iPad 2, which I got a couple months ago when it came out. I always thought the iPad would be good for journalling or blogging as long as you are writing smaller posts. I've made writing posts simpler by not having pictures and keeping my files online only, which allows me to make shorter posts using my iPad if I want.

Why I Made These Changes

Simply, doing all of the steps above will make it way easier for me to post to my blog. I'm excited and think I will do more writing on my blog now. Making this post took way less time than I used to take writing a post, so I'm sure that by storing my blog online only and not using pictures will make we want to post more. Like I've found with many things in life, simplifying down to what matters most makes it easier to get things done and makes you enjoy things more in the end. In this case, simplifying the process to post to my blog will make me want to write in it more often and enjoy doing it.

So as it turns out I haven't used this blog very much or made many posts. Honestly, it isn't very surprising. I knew I may not use it very much. One of the reasons I don't post too much to it is because I'm never sure exactly what types of things I should write on it or how much I should edit myself. But now I know that my main reason for originally making this blog isn't really going to work out.

My first post to this blog explained the reasons why I was creating this blog. My plan was to keep an online journal about my goals and I was going to keep it simple. I would make the format somewhere in between a Twitter log and a long format blog. I would post little updates about my goals often. However I realize that I don't really want to do that publicly. Of course it should be obvious because I never did post anything about my goals. Anyway, instead of writing about my goals on this blog I will be writing about my goals more often in a personal journal. Here are a few of the reasons why.

Reasons To Write About My Goals In A Personal Journal

1. I censor myself when writing about my goals on a public blog.
2. I prefer to write about my goals privately for the most part.
3. I can write more often about my goals and not worry about grammar in a personal success journal.
4. People don't want to read every detail about my personal goals and life.
5. I like to sound somewhat good on a public blog and edit what I say.
6. I want a place to write about my interests, thoughts, and ideas instead of my life.
7. I can still update people on my goals and life once in awhile on my blog.

Continued... >

Hello World! Welcome to my blog. I've wanted to create one for quite awhile and I've finally done it. I have no idea how long I'll keep it going or how much I'll write in here. But here are some of my reasons for creating the blog. This first post will be a good reminder to myself of why I want to write in this blog and what kind of things to write about.

Reasons I Created My Own Blog

1. To Write About My Goals

This is my main reason for creating this blog. I'm very into being organized, setting goals, and creating habits. I've read books like "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Getting Things Done" that have helped me very much in my life. I've read a lot of articles on websites like Lifehack, Lifehacker, Zen Habits, and many others. I always keep lists and notes on my mobile computer, which used to be a Palm Z22 and is now an iPod Touch. I've reached some important goals in the last few years. Lately I've had a hard time getting motivated enough to work on an important goal. I keep reading about how one of the best habits you can get into besides creating the habit to spend time working towards the goal every day is to tell people about your goal or journal publicly about it. So I finally decided to make this blog so I can write publicly about my goals and the progress I'm making or not making. Hopefully writing about my goal will keep me thinking about it and motivated to achieve it.

2. Creating A Blog Was A Goal

I've kept a list of goals and projects in some form or another for years now. I change the goals on the list a lot, and take many goals off when I feel they aren't that important. But creating a blog has stayed on that list so I'm completing a goal just by creating this blog.

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