These Things: Improve Your Routine, Become a Genius, and Write Songs Like the Talking Heads
Just East of Boise. Feb. 24, 2019
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
- George Bernard Shaw
The alarm goes off at 4:57 a.m. because this is just enough before five to say that it’s morning and my routine begins with water and proceeds to words and writing but I’m trying to learn from the morning routines of 300 high achievers even though I’ve been getting up early for years and, by the way, I didn’t know that many of us could learn how to be a genius like Bjork or Picasso by simply looking at the world and believing in that look and not spending too much time on our smartphones so I’m learning to configure my iPhone to work for me and not against me but really I just want reliable battery life so that’s out there now. Ok? Ok.
Then I remembered it was about a year ago in March that we mused over the mysterious Voynich manuscript written in an unknown language and, well, some dude and his sons have recently decoded a lot of it which is exciting and, again, we learn that the best way to keep a secret is to simply tell it like it is but tell it like it is in writing as if we’re speaking like poetry used to be which may be similar to how the Talking Heads wrote “Once in a Lifetime,” which is one of my favorites songs of theirs but doesn’t compare with the poetry in this quote from George Bernard Shaw that is often summarized and attributed to the composer Benjamin Britten but is recited completely from memory by Jeff Goldblum in this interview with Stephen Colbert.
“Well, have it your way.” - Vizzini in “The Princess Bride”
I’ve Interviewed 300 High Achievers About Their Morning Routines. Here’s What I’ve Learned. [article via nytimes.com]
How to Be a Genius [article via medium.com]
How to Set Up Your iPhone for Productivity, Focus, and Your Own Longevity [article via betterhumans.coach.me]
What is Language? [article via jefferyoliver.com]
Has the Voynich Manuscript Finally Been Decoded? [article with video via openculture.com]
How the Talking Heads Wrote “Once in a Lifetime” [video via the Polyphonic YouTube channel]
Jeff Goldblum and Stephen Colbert talk George Bernard Shaw and Jazz [video via the Late Show with Stephen Colbert YouTube channel]
And here’s the George Bernard Shaw quote in full:
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.