Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Habits of Excellence

"We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle

Tonight in OLists Happy Hour, we are going to discuss Habits of Excellence, inspired by this quote from Aristotle.

Tennessee House Update: Kitchen

Here we are, well into the New Year, and it's been far too long since I've updated anything on the status of the Tennessee House.  My last update was back in November.   In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, there wasn't a huge amount of activity on the project - and things progressed slowly over the holidays.  It has mainly been finishing up painting and trim on the inside, and also painting the outside.

One major component that got installed just before Thanksgiving was the kitchen cabinets.

I haven't shared many of my design drawings for this house on the blog, but I'll show you what I drew up for the kitchen, and then some pictures, courtesy of Ms. Client.

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Household Productivity

During last week's Happy Hour, while we were discussing goals and projects for the new year, a side conversation came up between some parents in the group.  It had to do with trying to be productive with repetitive household tasks and such, in order to leave more time for various projects and things that really matter.


There was some discussion of the Getting Things Done system, and then Rose remarked, "...I was wondering if support for organizing housework should be some threads on OProducers..or OGrownups...kind of an overlap."


That was when the lightbulb upstairs went on, alerting me that whenever there is talk of overlap between Olist groups, it's a topic that should be developed, dissected, and discussed in detail at Happy Hour.

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Completing Projects & Setting Goals for 2011

Last week at the OLists Happy Hour, we had a rousing and fun discussion of everyone's achievements, looking back over 2010. 

In fact, it was so much fun, that I want to open this week's discussion to anyone who didn't get the opportunity last week. Feel free to join in and tell your achievements alongside our discussion of goals for the New Year.  Read about last weeks menu here.

For those who had their fill of retrospectivity last week, let's look ahead to next year:

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: The Gift of Achievement

As Christmas fast approaches, and many of us are busy preparing to celebrate with family and friends this weekend, a specific observation occurs to me.

In discussing Christmas, in 1976, Ayn Rand observed:

The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: “Merry Christmas”—not “Weep and Repent.” And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form—by giving presents to one’s friends, or by sending them cards in token of remembrance...

Years earlier, she wrote this passage in Atlas Shrugged, when Dagny is about to run the first train on the John Galt line:

She looked at the crowd and she felt...a sense of fitness that they should be here, that they should want to see it, because the sight of an achievement was the greatest gift a human being could offer to others.

As we approach the end of the year, I think there is real value in looking back on our individual achievements from the past year, both as a source of spiritual fuel, and as a means of checking one's bearings in contemplation of goals to set for the new year.

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Is College Worth It?

(Note:  This question has been suggested for Diana Hsieh's next Rationally Selfish Webcast, where she discusses various questions related to practical ethics, each Sunday morning.  If you find this topic of interest, check out her webcast info page here.  She suggested the topic for Happy Hour, and I think its a good one!)

Something that seems essentially taken for granted these days is the importance of a college diploma.  But is college really worth it?  As education costs continue to rise, and students/graduates find themselves saddled with huge amounts of student loan debt, one can easily see from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis that the question is not trivial.

Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Optional Values 2.0

A few weeks ago we had a scheduled topic of Optional Values for the Happy Hour.  I was particularly excited about that topic, but we happened to have very light attendance that week.

This week, let's give it a try again with Optional Values: