Quiddities and quandries from my quintessential quest

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Smelly Old Emails

Stop thinking of emails like precious family heirlooms, and start treating ‘em like pints of milk. Perishable, time-stamped milk that becomes a little less fresh every day until it smells kind of funny and just needs to be dumped. Merlin Mann, at Inbox Zero: Better Practices for staying (near) zero. I love Merlin’s use of [...]

I Should Make a Life Manifesto!

Whenever I have a tough decision to make I ask myself, “What would someone, who lived their life by the darwinifesto, do in this situation? Great advice here from analogDARWIN, about how to make one’s own life manifesto.  I am very keen on making myself a Qrystalifesto!

Inspired by a Blog

How to be an Original covers three main topics: * Discovering WHO you are – Authenticity * Deciding WHAT you want – Goal Setting * Learning HOW to get there – Self Improvement and Productivity About | How to be an Original I almost cried reading the purpose of this blog.  I am missing at [...]

Trying to Become an Early Riser

23. Avoid Naps. It’s a proven fact that nappers sleep worse at night. Naps break critical sleep cycles that keep us from getting the proper types of sleep we need. 24. Track your progress. Use a goal tracker like Joe’s Goals to simply track how you’re doing. Visually seeing your progress is a great way [...]

The Meaning of Life, to a Child

The meaning of life is to live. An 8-year-old child, as quoted at A Day in the Life of a Pagan Parent. Kids say the darndest things, eh? The author of the article had no idea the child would come up with an answer at all, let alone such a thoughtful one that “not only [...]

Online Writing Resources

I hope to add to this list eventually, as I find more sites like the one below!  Suggestions are welcome! The Purdue University Online Writing Lab seems to have a lot of valuable resources, including a fantastic Verb Tense Chart to help distinguish between various verb tenses.  I had learned many of these terms in Latin [...]

5 Ways to Handle Chronic Procrastination

Link: 5 Ways to Handle Chronic Procrastination Step #1: Take Action.  (Don’t just acknowledge and ignore the problem!) Step #2: Find the Root.  (Search your feelings.) Step #3: Set Goals. (Determination can conquer procrastination!) Step #4: Be Realistic. (Plan, but plan for breaks too.) Step #5: Review. (Reward yourself, and prevent regression.)

Dangerous cosmetics

I don’t wear makeup often, and nail polish only rarely.  Now I’ve got good reason to avoid most nail polishes:  there are three dangerous chemicals to avoid, according to Green Living Online! Today, I am shopping for a friend of mine who I *know* will be at least as concerned as I am about toxins — [...]

Graduate Student as Apprentice

…[T]o achieve the highest level of expertise — at which one can make original contributions to a field — one needs to go beyond the written word to the tacit knowledge that is contained in a research community. This is the technical know-how and received wisdom that seep into aspirant scientists during their graduate-student apprenticeship… [...]

Mindful of Posture

You should not be tilted sideways, backward, or forwards. You should be sitting straight up as if you were supporting the sky with your head. This is not just … a means of obtaining the right state of mind. … When you have this posture, you have the right state of mind, so there is [...]