Category Archives: Life Lessons

Life Lesson 1: The Backyard Patio

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One of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever undertaken was installing a paver patio in the backyard of our new house in MInneapolis in 2012. We bought the raw materials from Menards, found a book at Barnes & Noble, then got to work.

It wasn’t too expensive, especially given the size. But it was before I lost weight and athletically, I wasn’t ready for that much digging.

More importantly, I’ll never do it again. Where as professionals would have completed the job in a weekend, this patio took half a summer. We spent the rest of the summer struggling with what to do with all the dirt.

While the last two bricks were very satisfying to put in, take it from me – hire a professional to install a patio.

Dressing to Impress

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One of the biggest changes over my last 39 years has been my style. In high school and college, I dressed to blend in. I wore clothing from the Gap and usually pretty boring t-shirts.

Sometime in my early 30’s, I started wanting to stand out. Life can get sorta boring and the people that dressed differently really made life more interesting. So I doubled down on dressing to impress. Or, if not impressive, I at least want to turn heads.

First off, I almost always have a flower in my hair. My hair has gotten long and curly, so a flower sorta balances it out. It also draws a lot of compliments, especially if I can color coordinate it with something else I’m wearing.

I also don’t wait for Halloween anymore. Here I am dressed as a light up, inflatable chicken at the bar across the street from my house in NOLA. There wasn’t a special occasion, it was just a Saturday night.

Sometimes it’s just unexpected. For the record, I definitely don’t pee in pools. But wearing the above t-shirt around, people go out of their way to either fist bump me or tell me I’m not invited to their pool. It’s awesome to see a wide variety of reactions.

More often than not, though, I dress for the occasion. This was my face paint for a concert on a recent Saturday night – “LSD Clownsystem”, a clown-based LCD Soundsystem cover band. How can you go to a clown show without clown face?!?!

That said, I wouldn’t have done it 20 years ago.

Squirrel Burgers

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Here’s a story about sacrificing quality for delivery: don’t make squirrel burgers.

I’m usually a centrist. If there’s two competing moral principles, the best moral compass is probably somewhere in the middle. I’ve been on the side of rehabilitative criminal sentences (fix what caused the crime, don’t eye-for-an-eye ’em), but then some really awful case makes me want to just execute the asshole.

Thus, I really like when something pulls me towards the center. My father instilled the following principle in me when I was growing up:

At some point in your career, there’s going to be a day when the janitor doesn’t show up and there’s a huge mess in the bathroom. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mailworker or the CEO, that mess has to get cleaned. Don’t be the kind of person that says, “that’s beneath me!” Get the job done. [Paraphrased, not quoted]

I still think that’s a good lesson and has served me well. But the squirrel burger article makes another point – not every job should get done.