Happy New Year

Pacey and Penny Say:
All the best to you and yours in 2008.

News review of 2007

Penny Says: 2007 a year in review from me to you!

An astronaut in diapers, celebrities and socialites in prison, finally the cell phone that does everything (once you hack it), wars, famine, drought, and Mattel asks parents everywhere “would you like your toys with our without lead?”

Astronaut is crazy in love and wears diapers to avoid bathroom breaks on the way to murder the object of her affections new lover! NASA sure knows how to pick them - cream of the crop - Way to think it through NASA. Way to check those references!

Anna Nicole Smith died, leaving behind her rich baby and suddenly her baby has two daddies and then they went to court and we learned through the magic of DNA testing that babies only have one daddy. Now that Daddy has dead Mommy’s money and has to take care of a baby.

This year a pop star made millions of dollars, so she shaved her head, went to rehab at least twice, and despite having a personal stylist suffered multiple fashion mishaps that result in everyone seeing her gnarly bits. Oh yeah, and to top it off, Britney Spears had her kids taken from her due to parental incompetence! Soon after her sweet 16 year old sister Jamie Lynn Spears gets pregnant, all the while Momma Spears is writing a parenting book – yeah this is all going to end well.

Darfur – the search for water continues while the 2 million (give or take a million) people who have survived the genocidal slaughter are currently starving and living in refugee camps – in spite of the attempts made by Bono, who sang several songs on their behalf and some websites offer Do-It-Yourself Save Darfur kits.

Pakistan a military dictatorship began the year as a American ally helping the US fight terrorism. President Pervez Musharraf took a severe departure from the route to democracy and declared a state of emergency suspending human rights putting off democratic elections. Soon after their progressive Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was brutally assassinated days before the elections were to be held. She had a shown promise as a winner of the soon to come democratic and free elections. Benazir has fought her whole life to lead Pakistan to democracy alas extremist with guns win. Comforting to know they are a member of the nuclear club!!!!

North Korea (officially Democratic People's Republic of Korea) currently being run by Kim Jong-il is still showing us all how you can be a dictator and still use the word democratic to describe the people you are enslaving and starving. Yup you guessed it – nuclear club members!

Al Gore wins peace prize for raising awareness about the global warming (sorry now we call it climate change) movement that has little or no merit or science to back it up. But at least he made some sweet coin off of his scary movie. Meanwhile George Bush has been directing the money guzzling, life consuming War on Terror, a real life scary movie with no end in sight!

iPhone is hyped for months and when finally released people line up for days to buy the wondrous device that leads to 300 page phone bills. Then one day one smart kid hacks the phone allowing iphone users to change networks to one with out exorbitant fees. Suck it AT&T!

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie both get drunk and decide to drive home – both get caught, both spend some time in the slammer, one finds God the other gets pregnant. Both swear to someone they are sober. Grand Pappy Hilton decides to will his fortune to charity.

2007 Writers Guild of America strike is still going strong. Most prime time shows have simply run out of taped episodes and switched to re-runs. But up in Canada home-made programming is going strong. The writers strike in the US may actually give Canadian writer Douglas Coupland’s JPOD a chance at making it past the pilot episode. Coupland is a fantastic author and JPOD is a great book - I am sure the show will be entertaining and insightful, but Canadian productions are just that – Canadian. Coupland’s 2007 release The Gum Thief is excellent book and a must read if you have ever doubted that love and life can be found in the most unlikely places.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper sets aside millions for research to take place in Canada’s arctic – just after the Russians noticed Canadians were not using it and planted a flag there! Polar bears suddenly feeling like somebody’s watching and counting them.

Happy December 25th Day!

Pacey says:

One of the most common features in human mythology is the rising of the sun on December 25^th. Ancient societies have mythologised the ‘birth’ of the sun on December 25^th for centuries.

The sun, of course, brings light, warm temperatures, and life to the planet, and worshiping the sun is the most common form of worship in humans. Humans have also tracked the stars in the night sky in order to anticipate the sun’s rise and fall over the seasons. One of the earliest maps of the night sky is detailed in the Zodiac (pre-2000 B.C.), where star constellations were given earthly qualities by humans. The signs of the Zodiac map the sun’s travels throughout celestial sky.

One of the earliest sun gods was Horus of ancient Egypt (~3000 B.C.) He was born on December 25^th of the virgin Isis. His birth was accompanied by a star in the east, and at the time of his birth he was adorned by 3 Kings. He was crucified and was resurrected after three days.

In ancient Greece, the god of light Attis (1200 B.C.) was born on December 25^th, crucified, dead for three days, and resurrected. In 900 B.C., the god Krishna was born on December 25^th accompanied by a star in the east. Another Greek god, Dionysus, was born of a virgin on December 25^th in ~500 B.C. and was crucified. The Persian god Mithra was born December 25^th 1200 B.C., was dead for three days and was resurrected. In Israel, Jesus Christ, too, was born on December 25^th of a virgin, adorned by three kings, was crucified, and resurrected after three days.

The commonalities among these sun gods are compelling. The prevailing theory is that what these ancient societies were doing was mapping the lowering of the sun in the daytime sky in the winter which was resulting in shorter days. On December 22^nd, the sun was at its lowest point in the daytime sky, where it remained (perceivably) for three days. On December 25^th, the sun moved higher in the daytime sky, signaling the end of short, colder days, and the return of warmth, longer days, and the rebirth of plant life. Thus, the birth of the sun takes place on December 25^th after three of the darkest days.

The links between the sun gods and the constellations are also highlighted in other common details. When the sun god is ‘born’ on December 25^th, it rises into the Zodiac constellation of Virgo, thus the sun god was born of a virgin. On this day, the sun rises into the Southern Cross (Crux) constellation, and thus the sun god was crucified. This probably explains why Christians, Pagans, and followers of the Zodiac share the cross as their symbol, with the sun in the middle. A cute metaphor in Christianity is that their sun god had a “Crown Of Thorns”, which resembles sun rays.

Another interesting link between the sun gods is the trend of having being adorned by three kings under a bright star in the east. The stars of the belt of Orion was termed in the ancient world “The Three Kings”, and if you follow the three kings from right to left the next star in the sky happens to be the brightest star in the eastern sky, Sirius. If one follows the trajectory from the three kings through Sirius, they align with the spot on the horizon where the sun breaks dawn on December 25^th.

A deeper look into the commonalities between these ancient sun gods is the number 12. Many of these gods had 12 disciples, 12 virgins, 12 shepherds traveling with them. These 12 disciples can be traced to the 12 signs of the Zodiac, where the sun travels over the course of a year, or 12 months.

It appears that these ancient mythologies were mapping the sun (the son of god, the light, the risen savior, defender against darkness) in the sky and assigning elaborate mythologies to them, personifying the sun.

Thus, December 25^th day signals to us that summer is on its way. Whether you are celebrating the birth of Horus, Krishna, Jesus, Attis, Dionysus, Mithra, the Great Pumpkin, the sun itself, or Santa on December 25^th , we should all hold our loved ones close and feel happy about the longer days and warmer temperatures that are to come.

Pacey would like thank Penny for providing visual aids and conceptual consultation on this post.

Too bored to work?

Penny Says: why not go from drab to fab this holiday season

As budgets get slashed and companies economize the days of private decorated offices are long gone. But do you have to suffer the mind dulling gray of a cubical wall that as of yet has only inspired a coma.
According to this article you do not have to suffer any longer Wired cubical fixes .

There are great ideas ranging from grad student chic to sophisticated smoking jacket worthy cubical! I am guessing that not all offices will be happy with the new cubical look - but if you could find a few items to brighten your day like a faux window city scape, or a little coffee maker you might find your cubical can inspire you to do a good job and be a little happy about going there too!






I think this Zen cubical would make an office enticing even on a sunny day!

A home office could easily be casino themed! although for me it might be a bit over stimulating to have a slot machine where my printer used to be!!

If you are not into adding bling to your cubical why not add a pet? A little betta-fish would make good company and would not be too upset about being left alone on weekends. For a great quick guide to caring for your work pet follow this link to betta care by Mary Brennecke.













Ranging from a simple mason jar to fancy hanging aquariums betta fish can brighten up any workplace with hardly any fuss. But the pay off is you can watch your betta swim around and add colour to your day.

Why is there corn in my coffee

Penny says – Oh no! Is my coffee drinking habit destroying the planet?

According to several sources it might be…

To-go-coffee cups are often made from some recycled paper material but are lined with a plastic coating ensuring that hot coffee stays in the cup and not on your lap. This lining makes these cups non-biodegradable. To make things worse, plastic is traditionally made from petroleum (polyethylene) arguably a non-sustainable resource. Although this plastic is not biodegradable it is often used in single use products like cups, plates, and disposable cutlery. We use it once and through it into the trash, it ends up in landfills taking us space potentially forever.

I do not know if the landfills are filling up, nor do I understand what happens to thousands of kilograms of garbage in plastic bags over time as it sits in landfills (I imagine there are some seriously nasty smelling oozing processes underway but I can also imagine a child’s plastic toy still looking remarkably like its original form 40 years after being put in a landfill).

I am really in need of a cup of coffee so I will try to get to my point. If coffee cups and the like are going to be tossed out after one use – they should be made from materials from a sustainable source that is can biodegrade in a landfill or in a compost facility.

According to some sources – plant based plastics are the perfect solution. Corn based plastics are safe for cup lining and apparently biodegrade (http://www.greenhome.com/).

However it may not be as simple as that – in order to get these bio-plastics to breakdown they need to be in the “right” environment. A compost facility that has the specific heat and moisture requirements. These cups will not break down in your composter at home. But if every coffee cup was shipped to a compost facility they could be broken down. See this article for more info - http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/plastic.html

An alternative that takes some getting used too – Baggase is the biomass pulp like material remaining after sugarcane has been processed to extract its sweet juice. Baggase is most recognizable to consumers as those brown trays that hold four to-go coffees.

Baggase is a sustainable, biodegradable re-purposed material. PERFECT – if only it could hold coffee? Well it can but the cups made out of it loose a bit of their rigidity when hot liquids are poured into them they will not leak just become a little more dynamic and potentially difficult to hang on to. My solution is to use a baggase coffee cup sleeve over the baggase cup to maintain rigidity when hot.

( http://dgs.greenhome.com/products/kitchen/compostableware/ ) To buy baggase products follow this link. Of course my perfect to-go coffee cup is not yet on the market but there are some close seconds and other compostable plastic products. But there is governmental support for those of you inclined to come-up with a solution to our to-go coffee cup quandary (http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/highlights/2007/0709bio_e.html )

Eco- conscience coffee shops are using the pricey Corn-lined cups - but are these really any better than the polyethylene alternative if they end up in the landfill? Maybe just slightly but they are also more expensive than traditional cups.

OK so plastic that is made from a sustainable resource is a good thing especially when it is bio-degradable. The problem is that we usually through out our to-go coffee cups in the garbage bins on the street or in the office or even at home. These bins are lined with petroleum product – Polyethylene - plastic bags that are not biodegradable and yet super cheep and practical barrier between us and the gooey garbage. So even when you pay the extra money for the eco-plastics if you do not ensure they are going to the compost centre to biodegrade and be turned into fertilizer – are you really doing the environment any favors?

I am all for saving money and bringing your own mug offers discounted coffee prices (10 to 20 cents per beverage) but you are stuck carrying the mug long after the decadent coffee is gone. I say put the extra effort into buying a good reusable coffee mug that fits in your purse or briefcase or backpack when it is not in use. Why not buy a bio-plastic mug and be sure to return to appropriate composting facility when finished with it. For green products including the ladybug mug go to greenhome For an example of a composting facility

Bulk orders of corn-plastic mugs with low price points for you folks that own businesses that require branding see Fairware a Vancouver based company with lots of eco-friendly products.

If you have 10 minutes why not stop and have your coffee to stay - using one of the ceramic cups provided by the coffee shop. I know there are still detergents needed to wash these cups but hopefully the business you get your coffee from are using eco-friendly cost efficient detergents. Taking a break and actually resting for a few minutes while you enjoy a cup-a-joe will likely decrease your stress levels, increase your mental alertness and help you be more efficient at accomplishing tasks for the remainder of your day. That’s right I am telling you that taking a break and sitting still will help the environment and probably save you time.

For all of you gardeners out there – Starbucks has a bucket of coffee grounds that are for your garden – you just stop by your local Starbucks and pickup a bucket of grounds free of charge of course and I recommend you bring your own re-usable bucket!!! http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp

For a quick article on corn plastics see http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2007/07/11/corn-plastic/

For those of you who might have Corn allergies!! - http://cornfree.ca/index.htm I guess PLA coffee cups are too corny for some.

Revealed: Mascots for the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver, Japan

Pacey Says:

Coming up with decent mascots must be a near-impossible task if this is the best of the bunch. Can you tell which one is the Sasquatch? The "sea-bear"? The "animal guardian spirit"? An outsider might be thinking that Vancouver, Canada must have no natural or cultural icons if committee members had to invent mascots to promote their entry to the world stage.



Bigfoot is a long-running unfunny hoax that has nothing to do with welcoming anyone to Vancouver and/or promote good sportsmanship. Bigfoot is named "Quatchi" apparently after Quatchi Plateau (aka Terre de Barre) near Togo, on the continent of Africa. You may remember Togo as the tiny republic that experiences daily earthquakes as reported by SCTV news.




There is no such thing as a "sea-bear", but it apparently it is a mythical First Nations creature. This is a good start, because First Nations contribute greatly to Canadian culture. However, I assume there must be no actual First Nations names, because this sea-bear is apparently named "Miga" after a Japanese and Korean BBQ restaurant in Mississauga, Ontario.

Even though "animal spirits" don't exist, "Sumi" has potential because it (?) wears an orca whale hat. Why this creature would be named after a type of Japanese calligraphy ink is beyond me.

All together, Vancouver came up with three creatures, yet not one of them are actually real. And these creatures are named with words that have nothing to do with the region of Vancouver, First Nations, or Canada, from what I can tell. And they're weird looking, except for the one with the orca hat.

Perhaps the best mascot the committee came up is not an official mascot, but a "sidekick" mascot. Named "Mukmuk", this creature is a rare marmot that lives on Vancouver Island and is named after a similar Squamish word for "food". Mukmuk has advantages over every other mascot in that a) it is a 'real' creature (a marmot), b) it lives in British Columbia, c) indicates the hospitality of sharing a meal, and d) and it has a name inspired by a First Nations language. Somehow, this creature did not make the cut as one of the official mascots.

Beauty of Biology

Penny Says:
Aww isn't that cute

This little fella would probably make a fantastic appetizer. But the Dumbo Octopus is much too cute for me to eat! The color and artistry in biology always impresses me. The Book The Deep -The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss by Claire Nouvian - is full of jaw-droppingly amazing images of previously hidden biological treasures. The folks at Chapters may ask if you are alright if you take the time to flip through before you purchase! The inevitable reflexive gasps, oohs, and aahhs are definitely attention getting.



I can only imagine the delight of an interior designer who spots these tubes worms and instantly imagine a room designed around their intense color and structure.











Imagine a child's delight to find a great glossy print of this green globe sponge on their bedroom wall.













This astonishing undefined species - has yet to be identified taxonomically. A fashion designers muse or simply a undersea delight. I am happy to have had the pleasure of seeing it!







The Deep offers 220 color images, some of which could go straight into a frame and onto your walls, but others might go straight to your nightmares.





This nasty looking entity reminds us that there is virtually no light and definitely no mirrors in the depths of the ocean.






I am left wondering what they eat? Do they play? Are they social? How do they communicate with their friends and foes? And how on earth can we study them without ripping them out of their secret world and flopping them onto the laboratory bench?


FYI - for those of you who are worried about conserving precious ocean species, while still creating fantastic recipes and eating delicious entrees, check out the Smithsonian's Guide to Ocean Friendly eating.

.

In a Skeptical World ....

Pacey Says:

A recent event involving one of my good friends has lead me to once again figure out why people (who I consider intelligent) do such stupid things. Repeatedly. I realize that this world contains all kinds of people, and not everyone is going to do things the smartest and most pragmatic way, but there are some cases of abject nonsensical behavior which are easily avoidable for anyone possessing a basic intellect. In particular, this friend of mine got involved in a pyramid scheme costing $1000s that issues some kind of magic juice (it ‘reverses menopause, stabilizes blood glucose levels!1!!’). It is obvious to me that getting involved in this kind of thing is a bad play, but my pal got involved against my best reasonable logic.

He’s smart. He successfully completed high school, earned a college diploma, and now runs a profitable business. Yet, periodically, he gets swept up in near-cults and the above mentioned schemes. So, how did (does) this happen?

I have now come to believe that the educational system failed him, as it has failed me and most others. The educational system does not get people to think critically. The fallout of this is the myriad of scams, schemes, and BS that is ripe in nearly every sector of society, and good, intelligent people end up endorsing all of this baloney to a great drain on resources that could be used to make this world a better place.

I, of course, understand this solution will not fix everything, but I do think it will severely curb the BS in the world. The solution I propose is to add a mandatory class tentatively titled “Skepticism”. Hopefully, it can start as early as Grade 1 and will need to be passed by everyone earning a HS Diploma. At the very least this needs to be done at the University level, where everyone needs to not only satisfy the conditions of their major to graduate, but also pass a course in “Skepticism” in every year of their program.

This course would outline the most common pitfalls of logic and reasonable thinking, and how to identify them. Topics in Skepticism would include:

- Charities

- Lawyer Speak

- Politics

- ESP

- What Science Is and What Science Is Not

- Religion

- Credentials

- Pyramid Schemes

- Spam

- Environmentalism

- Infomercials

- News

- Etc.

Not that I think every topic included above means that it is BS, but to point out where/when/how these topics use BS to get you to stop thinking critically. They are listed above because these topics have a tendency to issue a lot of BS. Note that this class would not teach people what to think, but how to think: how to evaluate evidence reasonably, and notice what tools people use to manipulate you.

Along with core topics, classes will include the memorization of logical fallacies. Kids would hopefully know logical fallacies at the end of high school like they know their times tables. Common logical fallacies everyone should be aware of include:

· Faulty generalization Inductive fallacies such as

• Biased sample
• Half-truths
• Hasty generalization
• Misleading vividness
• Package-deal fallacy or False dilemma
• Proof by example
• Data-snooping

· Questionable cause Informal causal fallacies

• Begging the question, circular logic "petitio principii"
• Correlation implies causation "Cum hoc ergo propter hoc"
• Post hoc ergo propter hoc
• Appeal to probability & Slippery slope

· Informal Relevance fallacies

• Irrelevant conclusion "Ignoratio elenchi" like Red herring
• Straw man
• Association fallacy
• Ad hoc
• "Ad hominem" — Attacking the person rather than the argument

· Informal Verbal fallacies

• Equivocation & Loki's Wager
• Undistributed middle & No true Scotsman
• Special pleading
• Where a proponent of a position attempts to cite something as an exemption to a generally accepted rule or principle without justifying the exemption.
• Red herring
• An argument, given in reply, that does not address the original issue.
• Gambler's fallacy
• The incorrect belief that the likelihood of a random event can be affected by or predicted from other, independent events.
• Inverse gambler's fallacy
• Where it is concluded, on the basis of an unlikely outcome of a random process, that the process is likely to have occurred many times before.
• Fallacy of distribution
• Where an argument assumes there is no difference between a term in the distributive (referring to every member of a class) and collective (referring to the class itself as a whole) sense.
• Fallacy of composition
• Where one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some (or even every) part of the whole.
• Fallacy of division
• Where one reasons logically that something true of a thing must also be true of all or some of its parts.
• Begging the question
• Where the conclusion of an argument is implicitly or explicitly assumed in one of the premises.
• Fallacy of many questions (Also: "loaded question")
• Where someone asks a question that presupposes something that has not been proven or accepted by all the people involved.
• Perfect solution fallacy
• Where an argument assumes that a perfect solution exists and/or that a solution should be rejected because some part of the problem would still exist after it was implemented.
• Denying the correlative
• Where attempts are made at introducing alternatives where there are none.
• Suppressed correlative
• An argument which tries to redefine a correlative (two mutually exclusive options) so that one alternative encompasses the other, thus making one alternative impossible.
• Accident (fallacy)
• When an exception to the generalization is ignored.
• Converse accident
• When an exception to a generalization is wrongly called for.
• Appeal to tradition
• Where a thesis is deemed correct on the basis that it has a long standing tradition behind it.
• Appeal to authority
• Where an assertion is deemed true because of the position or authority of the person asserting it.
• Argument from ignorance (Also: "appeal to ignorance")
• Where a premise is claimed to be true only because it hasn't been proven false, and vice versa.
• Argumentum ad populum (Also: "appeal to belief", "appeal to the majority", "appeal to the people")
• Where a proposition is claimed to be true solely because many people believe it to be true.
• Appeal to novelty
• Where a proposal is claimed to be superior or better solely because it is new or modern.
• Appeal to emotion
• Where an argument is won due to the manipulation of emotions, rather than the use of valid reasoning.
• Appeal to flattery
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument is won due to the use of flattery to gather support.
• Appeal to fear
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument is won by increasing fear and prejudice towards the opposing side.
• Appeal to consequences
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument concludes a premise is either true or false based on whether the premise leads to desirable or undesirable consequences for a particular party.
• Appeal to pity
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument is won by exploiting an opponent's feelings of pity or guilt.
• Appeal to ridicule
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument is won by presenting the opponent's argument in a way that makes it appear ridiculous.
• Appeal to spite
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where an argument is won through exploiting people's bitterness or spite towards an opposing party.
• Wishful thinking
• A specific type of appeal to emotion where a decision is made according to what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than according to evidence or reason.
• Argumentum ad baculum (Also: "appeal to force", "appeal to the stick")
• Where an argument is won through coercion or threats of force towards an opposing party.
• Appeal to motive
• Where a premise is dismissed, by calling into question the motives of its proposer.

This above list of fallacies and much more were found following this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

It would also be key to note that people who use such fallacies are not necessarily bad people, and that we often use fallacies on ourselves, such as in cases of self-deception. Simply, I think it would be great if everyone were aware of these cognitive pitfalls so they can act accordingly.

I wonder how the culture would be affected if people were generally made aware of how they are being manipulated. As it stands, people are left to themselves and good luck to sidestep these cognitive pitfalls, and any knowledge of how these manipulations occur is passed word-of-mouth by family and friends. And, as we all know, this isn’t good enough, because of the all the BS that, as I mentioned before, permeates every sector of society. People are graduating from educational institutions with an incomplete framework to interact with the world. I think there is much to be gained by a formal institution that teaches Skepticism, just as they teach History, Social Studies, and Science.

All I would need to do is convince the school board that teaching kids to be skeptical would be beneficial. That doesn’t sound difficult, does it?

What do you love to do?

Penny Says: for those you trying to find what it is that you love to do here is a little infrastructure for you to build on.

http://briankim.net/blog/2006/07/how-to-find-what-you-love-to-do/

In this article Steve Jobs recommends that we ask the Question:

What would I love to do on a daily basis utilizing both my skills and interests that will add significant value to people? And he gives us a simple plan to accomplish this often daunting task.

Quotes from the article -

Steve Jobs :

“Be honest. Have you actually sat down by yourself with no distractions, with your sole focus on asking yourself what you love to do without picking up your cell phone, surfing the net, watching TV, chatting on AIM, listening to your favorite song, playing solitaire or minesweeper, checking your email, returning a call, getting a drink of water, going to the bathroom, looking at the clock, reading a magazine article, I could go on and on but you get the point. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you haven’t for the sole purpose of you reading this article. Why is that?

Fear of what the answer will be if you ask yourself what you love to do.

The answer is:”I don’t know.”

“Step 2: Make a list of your skills and interests in two columns and WRITE THEM DOWN”

I was tempted to not follow these instructions. But I did for a simple reason. It’s the same reason busy people use appointment books or day planners or personal assistants – to make room in your head for actual thinking and marinating of ideas and concepts that allow for mental creativity.

I suggest that you make a list and then have 3 of your closest people make a list for you as well (friends, family, spouse, who ever they are they must know you and have seen you in action, happy, sad, good bad, unemployed, working, and so on.).

I know that I am more critical of myself than anyone else is of me; I suspect I am not alone in this. Other people’s perspective will help you to see your strengths, skills and maybe even point out an interest that you may have not noticed because for you it may be an obligation - but if it makes you happy and you like to do it – it is an interest and belongs on the list.

Steve Jobs uses the example of listing blowing bubbles in your spit as a skill to remind us that we are not limited to marketable skills – this was the hardest part for me. Skills that are relevant to the work place or to helping other people is what I wrote down first but others flowed out as I allowed myself to be more relaxed with the exercise.

Do I know what I love and how I can make money doing it?

No. But to be fair I just found this article this morning I want to make some cross comparisons with my people’s lists of my skills and interests, mull it over and integrate the trends on the lists with real-life.

Reality maybe the downfall to this process for some people, knowing what is and is not marketable, or even the kinds of jobs that are out there might be a stretch for academics or young people. In those cases I would suggests taking your list to an outside source like a career counselor or even your parents, your friends, and your friends parents.

What most of my adult life has taught me (usually through hard lessons) is to use your network. Your people are yours’, they want to help, and they are all different offering a rich tapestry of experiences that you can draw upon when faced with life’s little and big questions.

Happy Halloween

Pacey and Penny Say:

Happy Halloween

Enjoy the candy and the spooks!