Random Thoughts

I subscribe to the RSS feeds from Lifehack and I came across some good tips. One that was of value to me was their post on procrastinaton . The writer suggests that procrastinators should persistently ask themselves this one question. “What’s the best thing you could be working on, and why aren’t you?” l could not agree more. I am already practicing that piece of advice and it might shame me into doing "the best think I could be working on right now" and that is certainly not blogging. See ye!

According to this NY Times article , there is a consistent correlation between people's religious standings and their positive self-control. I have always suspected that, as have many others, but it is always nice to have your suspicions confirmed scientifically. Why is this correlation of much interest to me? Well, I have self-control and discipline problems that could really use a solution. I am not religious but I may choose to be "extrinsically religious" if that could help. ... That idea, while intriguing is not something I will pursue for many reasons. It takes a certain kind of wiring to be religious and I don't have that. I am (or have become) a rather mechanical and less spiritual person which makes it difficult to engage full-heartedly in anything that has a spiritual dimension. I will keep thinking though ...

I was reading Andrew Sullivan's article "Why I Blog" and started rethinking my approach to blogging. It is not so much rethinking as much as being inspired to adapt a more spontaneous and less polished style. Andrew links to another blogger's advice: Farhad Manjoo has a guide to blogging. He spoke with Ambers: ...the best way to stick to a blogging schedule is to write quickly, and a good way to write quickly is to write as if you're talking to a friend. Marc Ambinder, the political-news maven at the Atlantic, told me, "I've found that I tend to write the way I speak. Short, staccato sentences, lots of parentheticals. That annoys purists, but it's uniquely my own voice, and I think it helps to build a connection with the reader." Also remember that your readers want you to get to the point. "Be clear, not cryptic," Salmon says. "Blog readers have neither the time nor the inclination to read between the lines; blogs aren't l

The death of one Wal-Mart worker on Black Friday has created quite a bit of outrage everywhere . May be the media is depicting the reaction as worse than it really is. May be the current economic struggles all over the U.S. (and the world) make the story resonate more strongly with everyone. What I want to say is that people are overreacting to this incident. They are creating storylines that are not there. This is not the first time someone has been trampled to death by crowds. Hundreds of Muslims die each year during their annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Many Hindus die under similar circumstances (even though I can't produce links right this moment). I would guess quite a few sports fans die in sports stadiums. Quite conceivably, more than a handful of people die worldwide trying to compete for bargain deals in stores. So, why people (perhaps just the media) attribute so much symbolism and significance to the death of one Black Friday shopper is beyond me.