Focus Focus

Profound thoughts don't always come from famous people. I have a theory that many famous sayings from famous people were said by someone not so famous at some point. But you may never hear from them (thanks to the internet, we now can). 

So the Everyman (or woman in this case) quote of the day.

"I jest to friends that I ride horses so I can scare myself to death on a regular basis. In such a challenging pursuit, there's always the chance of falling; a moment's inattention can result in serious injury. But people don't ride horses, rock climb, or ski down sheer slopes because of the danger. They do these activities because the absolute focus required makes them feel intensely, undeniably alive." Donna Farhi

And then the more famous Lord Chesterfield added: 

A man is fit for neither business nor pleasure who either cannot, or does not, command and direct his attention to the present object, and in some degree banish, for that time, all other objects from his thoughts… There is time enough for everything, in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once; but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time… This steady and dissipated attention to one object is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of a weak and frivolous mind.

Time to focus, and be present for the task at hand. Lunch time is over, back to work. (Focus Focus. Yes it's Friday afternoon, but people work on Friday afternoon. Don't they?)

Ghost in The Machine

Random bits of stuff for the day. The ghosts in my memory.

YIELD.

I don't have many pet peeves (That I know of) when I drive, but I notice a rise in my blood pressure when people stop at a yield, when no one is coming. Clearly, they can see, NO ONE IS COMING. No reason to stop. Slow? Sure OK, but KEEP GOING. OK, I feel better now.

Form over function.

I bought a new vacuum cleaner today. It's an ordinary thing, you don't think about it too much. I could think of about a million things I'd rather spend a hundred bucks on. I love gadgets and good design, sometimes even over the function of something. I was really really tempted to buy what I'll call the ipod version of a vacuum. Steve Jobs was famous for clean lined, simple interfaces on everything Apple made. Sleek. Nice to look at, and use (most of the time).  If Steve Jobs or the Apple designers had ever built a vacuum, this is what it would look like:

 So when I saw this beauty in the store, I almost bought it. I choose not to, mostly because it didn't fit my needs, but boy is it cool looking. Battery operated, no cords but only runs for 15 minutes and doesn't do deeper pile carpet. It does convert to a hand vac for your car, which is very cool. The buttons on it make that satisfying 'click' and the pieces all fit snug. Nice job, Electrolux. Steve would have liked it.

A Big Chicken

If we are what we eat, I am a rotisserie chicken. And some broccoli. With a few eggs and some Naked Green Machine thrown in. When you don't have time to cook, and you eat alone, you tend to fall back on the staples. 

Torturing Plants

I have three Bonsai trees. I received two as gifts, and bought the third one myself. Bonsai care is something that requires patience, planning, and pruning. It's an art and skill at the same time. This is not one of mine, but it's a classic shaped tree. Mine will take years to look anything like this. I have a lot of learning to do. But I have time.

That's all the random stuff I have for today.