Tomorrows

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan (which I started to read but got distracted), gives his 10 rules for living with dignity amidst an uncertain world.

1 Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

2 Go to parties. You can’t even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.

3 It’s not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.

4 Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act — if you can’t control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.

5 Don’t disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don’t understand their logic. Don’t pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific ‘evidence’.

6 Learn to fail with pride — and do so fast and cleanly. Maximise trial and error — by mastering the error part.

7 Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words ‘impossible’, ‘never’, ‘too difficult’ too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take ‘no’ for an answer (conversely, take most ‘yeses’ as ‘most probably’).

8 Don’t read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.

9 Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

10 Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

#6 is my fave!

Dr. Who

On Saturday, I went to see a new doctor. She was recommended by my primary doctor. She wasn't actually my first choice but she was the only one who was open on Saturdays. I got a call from her office on Friday afternoon and was asked some questions. The question and answer portion saved me the hassle of having to fill out paperwork the next day. I was asked the standard new patient questions. After all the standard questions were asked, they lady asked me what my hobbies are and what I like to receive as gifts. I thought I heard wrong and asked her to repeat herself. I wasn't hearing things. She asked me what kind of gifts I liked to receive. Gifts in general are nice to receive and that's exactly what I said.

So the next morning I go to the office and walk into this:



This is the waiting room. I got creeped out. It smelled like dust. There was even a fake fireplace but no magazines to read. I always get nervous when I go to a doctor because I'm always expecting something to be wrong. My stomach started to hurt and the creepiness of the office did not help. After waiting for almost 30 minutes I got called inside. I was checked by a nurse and was told to wait in the doctors office. As I waited, I listened to the doctor talk to patients on the phone. She was a clown but seemed very concerned! I waited 30 minutes. By the time the doctor came in, I was ready to throw up. The doctor finally walked in and she reminded me of the old lady on a pack of Grandma's cookies.




She asked me a couple of questions and I told her I was anemic. She lectured me about the importance of taking iron and B-complex vitamins. She would lecture and then crack a joke. What a hoot. I was still sort of creeped out by the whole office decor. After our chat, she brought me to the exam room and was greeted by this:



Not only was the exam garment pink, there was a Dove chocolate on top. Notice the floral printed table cover. It was more like a disposable table cloth you would use to cover a picnic table instead of the usually toilet seat cover-like ones. I wanted to walk out of there already. I was genuinely freaking out.

I started to relax when she checked my lymph nodes and I didn't feel any pain. I've had doctors who examined my lymph nodes and I felt like I was being choked. In the end I felt like I had found a really good doctor despite the weird decor and rituals. She said she wanted to take my blood to test my blood levels but she never came back, so I left. Before leaving the office, the lady at the desk stopped me and handed me a box of bath salts, soap, and lotion. She said it was a gift from the office. So that's why I was asked what type of gifts I like to receive. I should've said I like to receive cars and diamonds!! Can't wait til my next visit which I'm hoping is not anytime soon. The longer the time between visits indicates my level of wellness ... or so I think.

Brakes

I had to get my brakes fixed today. I knew they needed to be replaced. They've been squeaky for the past month or so. I never expected to spend $500!!! There goes the LV Sprouse I was planning on getting ... for now. One part of my brake was cracked. I love how the shop showed me how it was really cracked and they weren't just making it up. I never thought they were jipping me but they kept trying to convince me that they really weren't. I think it's time for a new ride. I've been wanting to get a new car for about a year now but I don't really want to make payments. I have to think long and hard about this. My car is slowly falling apart but it still gets me to and from work. I haven't gotten stuck on the freeway so I have nothing to worry about but if my repairs are going cost me several Benjamins, I have no choice. We'll see how it goes. Mercury Retrograde starts tomorrow so I won't be making any big purchases until its over.

Life

Hate yours? Don't. F*** MY LIFE

Fusion

After reading URB's Best of 2008 posts, I decided to put together my own but I will only list 5!

Best Collaborations of 2008

• Onitsuka Tiger + Tokidoki
  
  • OT's fashionable athletic products (aka cool kicks) and Tokidoki's say on Japanese art = my most expensive shoe purchase for 2008. I have Erik Topolski to blame for showing me the pair he got.
    
    I got the low cut version
    
    
• Pinkberry and Starbucks
  
  • The Sorbetto was exclusive to a limited number of LA and OC stores. Fro-yo and mango but plain was the best. What was up with the kid sized cups though?
    
• Comme Des Garcons and H&M
  
  • Rei Kawakubo is awesome. She designs the weirdest things and I probably couldn't get away with wearing much of anything but I loved the line she did for H&M. Loved it so much I had my mom get in line at H&M in San Francisco to get me some stuff!
    
• Louis Vuitton & Murakami
  
  • I love Marc Jacobs! Marc Jacobs bumped heads with Takashi Murakami, once again and designed the Monogramouflage line. LV monogram canvas with a camouflage print. Of course Murakami's signature cute and colorful characters are on some items in the line.
    
    
    
• MAC Cosmetics and Graffiti artist Fafi
  
  • I don't really wear makeup but I have a horrible habit of buying MAC cosmetics because I LOVE the colors. The colors in this collection were too pink for me but the packaging was too cute to NOT buy.
    
  

I would've made more "lists" but I didn't. As you can see, I didn't include musical collaborations because that would've involved Lil Wayne + (one out of 100 artists). I did enjoy the collaboration between Kanye and Estelle - "American Boy" - for a little while and John Legend and Andree 3000's "Green Light".

Two heads are better than one, right?