Another week, another STBD episode!
They’ve also fixed their forums for comments, and they do have a Myspace page.
I’m rooting for the Todd / C romance, myself!
– Scott
Month: January 2007
100 Reasons I love my wife
This is actually an old meme, but I wanted to put it up anyway. With Valentine’s approaching, I think it’s especially appropriate.
Love you, Babe!
1.) I love the little notes she puts in my lunch.
2.) Love when she says “my honey”
3.) She has beautiful eyes
4.) She has this husky voice sometimes that she whispers I love you in
5.) She’s excellent at balancing the checkbook
6.) She sings to our son before his nap and at night
7.) She prays with him too.
8.) She genuinely cares about others.
9.) I like when she gets tears of happiness
10.) I love her long dark hair
11.) I love the birthmarks that stand for HLM on her arm
12.) I love her laugh
13.) Watches out for my health
14.) Makes great brownies
15.) Got me eating pizza with tomatoes on it instead of sauce
16.) Makes sure we don’t get cheated on bills
17.) She actually knows the words to “Oklahoma”
18.) She gives great hugs
19.) Her hand fits just right in mine
20.) She loves games and is competitive!
21.) She’s good with small details
22.) She spoons really well
23.) She never cusses
24.) She’s good with kids
25.) She sings beautifully to music
26.) She improved my wardrobe a lot
27.) She’s very humble
28.) She’s assertive
29.) She was by my side when I was unemployed
30.) Her come-hither expression makes me weak in the knees.
31.) Her face is very expressive
32.) Her lips are so soft and kissable
33.) She has a childlike sense of wonder.
34.) She likes to read mysteries.
35.) The only time I don’t miss her is when I’m with her.
36.) She cares about her parents.
37.) She has a great deal of empathy for people
38.) Her dazzling smile
39.) She’s a great cuddler
40.) She thinks I’m sexy
41.) I know she’s sexy
42.) She’s a great mom
43.) She’s rubbing off my rough edges
44.) My breath still catches in my throat when I see her across a crowded room
45.) She bore my son
46.) She stands her ground
47.) She’s good at meeting people
48.) She’s smart
49.) Her profile is gorgeous
50.) She knows how to give massages
51.) She forgives me when I screw up
52.) She pays our bills on time
53.) She volunteers for the church nursery
54.) She let’s me tell the same old stories over and over
55.) She help me to realize that it is more important to care for others than yourself
56.) She’s amused when I put my foot in my mouth
57.) She says “I love you” and means it
58.) She is a romantic
59.) She looks great in a bikini
60.) She’s a good Christian woman
61.) She doesn’t mind when I’m a bit overweight
62.) She cries during movies
63.) She loves to dance
64.) Great at finding deals at stores
65.) Cares about my health and makes me see the doctor
66.) She believes in the power of prayer
67.) She gets mushy after a glass of wine
68.) She tolerates my book buying addiction
69.) Her skin is so soft and smooth
70.) She’s absolutely faithful
71.) She’s not materialistic.
72.) She is very feminine
73.) She is a cancer survivor and I admire her for that
74.) She keeps in touch with her friends
75.) She encourages me to do the same with mine
76.) She likes to talk to me
77.) Watching her sing shake your booty with our son
78.) She’s a MILF.
79.) Wiggle wiggle wiggle 😉
80.) She is a girly-girl
81.) She’s determined
82.) She makes me look good
83.) Because I can’t imagine life without her
84.) Her hair always smells so good
85.) She can eat anywhere, not just hoity-toity places
86.) The way her face lights up at my gifts to her
87.) Pat, pat, pat 😉
88.) She looks incredible in a formal dress
89.) She makes me feel like James Bond
90.) She hates to sleep without me in the bed.
91.) She looks good even without makeup
92.) Her political views mostly match mine
93.) She’s a good teacher to our son
94.) She irons my shirts even though she hates doing it
95.) She is good at arranging the dishes in the dishwasher
96.) She meets my needs even at times when she is not in the mood
97.) She likes to hear from me everyday when I travel
98.) She misses me whenever I’m gone, even if it’s just to the store
99.) She takes pictures & video so we’ll have a record of our son’s life.
100.) She doesn’t mind my Steelers mania
101.) She doesn’t make me watch chick flicks
102.) She puts up with my swearing
103.) She knows the words to lots of 80’s songs
104.) That she likes chest hair on men
105.) That she likes to play putt-putt
106.) She goes to my church
107.) She married me
108.) She’s a chocoholic
109.) She gave us a beautiful child
110.) She gets mad when she sees injustice
111.) She drives safely
112.) She wanted to be a stay at home Mom
113.) She needs all the covers to stay warm
114.) Thinks I’m a good Dad
115.) Her long fingers and toes
116.) Her clothes are so tiny compared to mine!
117.) That she wants to celebrate our 50th anniversary together – 46 to go!
118.) and many, many, many more
My 2007 Reading List for Personal Development
I read a lot of books – generally 1 every couple of weeks. Worse yet, I buy books a lot because I see something interesting. And I get books out of the library on top of that!
The end result is that I have piles of books laying around begging to be read – and with a full time job, a wife, a child, and various other activities, not much time to read!
At the beginning of this year I sat down and made a list of the books I definitely want to read this year. So far, I’ve read three other books that aren’t even on the list, so I’m posting the list in hopes that it will add accountability. As in, at the end of the year I’ll post a follow-up stating which ones I read. I’ll also post reviews as I go.
Here it is:
The Innovator’s Dilemma, by Clayton Christensen
Becoming a Person of Influence, by John Maxwell and Jim Dornan
25 Ways to Win With People, by John Maxwell and Les Parrott
People Skills
The 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene
The 33 Strategies of War, by Robert Greene
Christ Plays in 10,000 Places, by Eugene H. Peterson
The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber
A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink
The Renaissance Soul, by Margaret Lobenstein
You: The Owner’s Manual, by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz
The End of the Barbary Terror, by Frederick C. Leiner
The Golden Ratio, by Mario Livio
The Little Book That Beats The Market, by Joel Greenblatt
The Bogleheads Guide to Investing, by Taylor Larimore et al
Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
I’ve also read the following books:
The Eight, by Katherine Neville
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, by David Shenk
The Wealthy Barber, by David Chilton (Reviewed by me here)
I’m currently reading:
New STBD webisode!
Yay! New Episode of STBD!
I’ve been pointing this series out in other posts, and for two reasons. One, it showcases Pittsburgh in a great way. Two, it’s a great example of future media transmission.
Oh yeah, the writing and acting are pretty good too!
One of the discussions that have been brought up by the producer is monetization of podcasts and vblogs and web series like the above. The issues range from how to do it to whether it should be done at all. Give ’em a look, check out the blog, and leave them comments!
Scott
The Wealthy Barber
One of my long term goals is to leave a financial legacy for my descendents. As I’ve noted before, the future wasn’t in my planning until recently So I’ve had to do a lot of work on learning about finance.
It’s ridiculous that we don’t teach this in schools. Kids go out in the world never having learned much about saving for retirement, compund interest, and so on. And especially about philanthropy! So it looks like I’ll have to teach Number One Son how to do his own financial planning.
This year I have a number of books on finance set aside to read. One that I’d heard about but never read was “The Wealthy Barber” by David Chilton. I picked it up at the local library and gave it a read last week.
There’s a good, comprehensive review here at Getting Rich Slowly, but these are some of my takeaways:
- I need to upgrade my insurance
- Save 10% first IN ADDITION TO your retirement funds
- Don’t invest in penny stocks, ever
- It’s okay, if you’re doing the right things automatically, to spend your cash on things for you.
One thing the book didn’t discuss was giving. I’ll get into this more in a future post, but I often see 10% as the amount for giving. I need to do better at giving.
Anyway, I recommend this book. It’s a good basic description of a smart way to manage your finances. In the beginning of the book, it states that if you take 100 25-year old Americans, by the time they reach 65 1 will be rich, 4 will be financially independent, and the other 95 will be in trouble financially.
Be one of the 5!
Scott
On Leaving a Legacy, Part 2
Before I got married and had a child, I really didn’t pay much attention to the future. Even after marraige, I was pretty much concerned only with having enough to retire on. But when my son came along, things really changed. I knew already I needed to think about things like wills, insurance, and college education, but soon I found out there was more…
The first that happened was that I read a series of articles in Worth Magazine. Now don’t get me wrong, I hardly fit into their income demographic, but it seems to me that knowing a little about how the wealthy think would help me to manage my own finances. In any case, the series of articles was on the 100 Year Plan.
If you look at the Rockefellers, Hearsts, etc., you’ll find families that have managed to preserve their wealth through time. Many families start with nothing, make a lot of wealth, and lose it all in three generations. My family tree shows that happening. So I wanted things to be different, and these articles talked about managing not just financial wealth, but social, intellectual, and spiritual wealth through four or five generations. My goodness – I was thinking about my great-grandchildren!
The second thing I read was the story of a preacher in what we’ll call Denomination X . This man got on his knees fifteen minutes a day and prayed for his descendants. He had children – boys and girls. The girls all married ministers in Denomination X, and the boys all became ministers in Denomination X. The same proved true for the next generation. And the next generation, his great-grandchildren, did the same, except for one. That one, the one who decided not to be a minister, was James Dobson.
Now you may or may not think much of James Dobson, depending on your political views, but still, his great-grandfather left quite a legacy!
So I began to see the future in a whole new light. And I evaluate my goals, both short and long term, in light of the fact that I would like to leave a legacy for my own family.
No pressure, no pressure…..
Scott
Musings On How to Pray
One of my Goals for this year is to pray at least five minutes per day.
I suppose, if you add up all the “quickie” prayers I say throughout the day, I’ve done that. But that wasn’t what I had in mind. I wanted to get on my knees and pray for five minutes straight. Part of my failure is not taking the time to do it.
But part of it is that prayer is hard! I’ve read books on how to pray, gone to Bible studies, heard sermons, and even been involved in Bible studies on the project. I’ve done the follow the Lord’s Prayer thing (Praise God, thank Him for things, confess sins, submit requests). I mean, I’ve been praying for over thirty years. You’d think I’d have it figured out by now.
But still, sometimes I just don’t know where to begin. A lot of times my prayers degenerate into wish lists – and mostly just for myself, and then mostly for myself to change for the better. When I praise Him, at first it was a case of what to say, then as I memorized a few Psalms, I got more poetic, but then it was a question of whether those were my words or if I was just parroting them.
Giving thanks was for the same things every day, and it seems like the list of sins was the same too. Occasionally I remembered to pray for others.
But what about just listening for answers? What about contemplative prayer? So many kvestions! I suppose, in the end, learning how to pray is like anything else – it’s a process.
So I’m still struggling with it. But it’s an important part of my life so I’ll keep working on it!
Scott
Coming up with Blog Posts
One of the most difficult things for me in writing this blog has been coming up with blog post ideas. I don’t want to just make this an online diary, nor do I want to analyze the news. Too many others do that already and some do it well.
I think one of the things I’ve done wrong is to write on the fly. I think that in order to have a more interesting and readable weblog, you need to do a couple of things:
1.) Sit down and plan some of your posts in advance
2.) Write them in advance and take some time to polish them before posting.
For family blogging or for telling about events this may not be so critical, but for more in-depth things I think it absolutely is. By doing this I’m not sitting there going, “Um, what do I write about today?” and I also don’t have an interesting topic with no substance.
Any thoughts from you more experienced bloggers?
Scott
My blog plans for the New Year
It’s been an interesting year so far. I’ve been reading about the history of Chess, learning some interesting things about productivity, reading various blogs that have helped me to learn some things, and I hope to do some updates on that information as time goes on. I’d also like to do a series on manhood, as that seems to be a popular search term on my blog, as is goal setting.
I will also get to do some traveling this year – looks like DC and San Diego in February, Brazil in march and April, and possibly Taiwan (again) and China later in the year. Depends on how sales go…
So, more later this week. Just wanted to give a quick update!
Scott
New Year, New Habits
So, here’s my first post for the New Year of 2007!
The title is a resolution I had. Resolutions aren’t always good – most people bail on them by mid-January. I’ve set some goals for this year as I detailed in a previous post.
I’m still kicking around trying to pick a focus for my blog. As you can probably tell from the categories list, and from reading previous posts, I’m all over the map. The big problem is, I have a ton of interests and it’s hard to pin it down to just one subject. I guess I’m a kind of Renaissance guy.
Anyway, regular posting should resume now!
My Life and Times 