Go Where They Ain't, Don't Follow Your Passion
Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs says that, after working with people who have the dirtiest jobs in America, they’re happier than most people. And they’re getting rich by going where everyone else wasn’t;...
View ArticleWalking the Walk
Walking the walk has become a core lesson learned for me. I’ve tried to live an adult life of walking the walk instead of talking the talk. When I was a suburban, socially disconnected kid, I spent...
View ArticleWhat to Read in International Affairs
I just left my old job, which was to read endless open-source articles online in the mainstream, on blogs, on Twitter, in discussion forums, whatever. One thing that was awesome about the job was...
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Eudaimonia Versus Existing in a Childproofed Society
We live within a culture where negative feedback is purposefully avoided. You can’t “dislike” on Facebook, you can only “+1″ on Google+. Yelp was rumored to have strong-armed companies into paying to...
View ArticleApplications: Guest Speaker Mike Hawley
For this week’s Applications class, the group projects discussed Margaret Gould-Stewart‘s lecture last week on collaboration and not being an ass. I thought Justin made a good contrarian point that...
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On #OccupyWallStreet
For last night’s Red Burns – Applications class, one of the group presentations addressed #OccupyWallStreet. I don’t usually speak in large groups anyway, mainly because I really, really hate fighting...
View ArticleOn Being a Veteran
Now that Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down, and it’s unlikely that the US will find itself entrapped into large military engagements for a while ( at least until a generation or two retires and a...
View ArticleLoyalty
During my brief lifetime, the US has enjoyed unchallenged dominance on the world stage. Indeed, the US and patriotism are used together so often that, at least to an American, it sounds weird to hear...
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Mercenaries
Perhaps the quality I look for and admire the most in people I associate with now that I’m 39 years old is altruism, whether someone will take actions to help others which do not benefit him in any...
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An Ode to Coke Zero
Back when I was in grad school in Washington DC, I wrote a brief blog post about my love for Coca-Cola Zero. I didn’t get into much detail there, so 9 years later, as I still drink Coke Zero...
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