The Knowledgemonger on the Importance of Mistakes

"Always Make New Mistakes" by Emily Dyson


This quote speaks about mistakes from two different, yet very important, areas. Firstly, it implies the importance of making mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, those of us that make more mistakes are living more outwardly, trying more things to find what it is that makes each of us the unique person that we are. Mistakes are not inherently an issue. Take for instance a baby taking it's first steps. They stand up and put one foot in front of the other precariously balancing themselves as they totter on the brink of falling over, which they eventually do. This mistake only becomes costly if the child wrongly assumes that every time that it tries to walk that it will fall and instead decides to continue to crawl. But, humans don't do that, we learn from that first failure and try to correct our balance to keep from repeating the error that made us fall in the first place.

This brings us to the second important point addressed by this quote: to not repeat old mistakes. Making the same mistake repeatedly is something that can have catastrophic effects. The rationale individual after making a mistake, needs to identify the mistake, correct the mistake (when possible) & remember the mistake as to not repeat it. When you learn from your mistakes you become a stronger person, able to not walk down the same wrong path in that situation. This can be tricky. Just because the path is different from the originally erred path does not necessarily make it the correct path as there may be more than two options with the any number of correct responses and incorrect responses.

Even more importantly is to realize that the wrong path for one situation may be the right path for a nearly identical situation if the players are different. Confused yet? Well, the good news is all you have to do is try a path and see where it leads and make note of the outcome. Just like a baby taking their first step decisions are things that come easier with experience and time. The goal of life is not to stop making mistakes, but to make fewer in time that are costly.

I leave you with this poem that I always found enlightening:

If I Had My Life to Live Over

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax. I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles but I'd
have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly
and sanely hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I've had my moments and if I had it to do over
again, I'd have more of them. In fact,
I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments.

One after another, instead of living so many
years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never go anywhere
without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat
and a parachute.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot
earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall.

If I had it to do again, I would travel lighter next time.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

By Nadine Stair (age 85)

Nose to the Grindr-stone

So while I'm a technophile in general, I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to philia and eros, tech and I just don't get along. Call me a romantic luddite, I don't know. That being said, I do get a certain amusement (not that type of amusement, get your minds out of the gutter) out of utilizing services such as Grindr and Scruff on my iPhone, including:

"What is [he] headless?" -- Megan Mullaly in Will & Grace
The sheer number of headless men who state a requirement for a face pic is amusing to say the least. I can't tell if these people are just oblivious or simply unabashed in their hypocrisy.

"For God's sake, Gerry. I asked you a simple question; there is no need for you to become Woody Allen." -- Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors
There are absolutely no neurotic gay men in DC. None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Every single gay man in DC is laid back. Does this sound like the gay DC we live in? I didn't think so. The only type of laid back gay men we have in DC are the ones who get laid on their backs. *rimshot*

My particularly favorite use of "laid back" was accompanying a profile picture of a guy in a tailored suit, leaning against a nice wooden dining room table, with the light streaming in from a window just-so. Laid back? Really?

"Howard Brackett is a big homo, queer, Mary, sissy man! He just came out at his big church wedding! Martha Stewart is furious! " -- Kevin Kline in In & Out
Apparently, everyone on these sites is or is looking for a masc[uline] (usually laid back) guy. First, "masculine guy" is redundant. Barring that, for this assertion to be true, the helium-heeled and -headed twinks of the world should be dying from sexual starvation and there should be a commercial starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. about saving them. I believe we can all agree that this is not the case. Similarly, some of the most masculine looking guys around are affliected with a serious case of STHJ syndrome.

"Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative." -- Oscar Wilde
I particularly enjoy when a random person with a practically blank profile messages one with "Hi," "Hey," "Sup," or, my coworkers' favorite, "Woof" (not to be confused with Scruff's woof at feature which is much like Match.com's wink, or OkCupid's woo). The art of conversation seems to be dead. People don't understand how to use conversation as a tool. I realize that people use these tools for different things some are looking just for sex, others for dates, others from friends. Conversation is the way to elicit this information.

"You just contact the mayor's office. He has a special signal he shines in the sky; it's in the shape of a giant cock." - Hit Girl in Kick-Ass
As I said above conversation is the way to elicit information on which page each of the participants is on. The sheer number of unsolicited cock shots that I've received is amazing. Including, my personal fave, someone who fished his cock out of his ski pants to take a picture while on the side of a ski slope while I was in Breckenridge. I mean seriously. I realize that some of our contributors here at 100MC are cock shot connoiseurs, but I'm not. And if you, ya know, conversed with me before sending it, I could have told you that.

So, no earth-shattering news here, the world of gay dating is full of awkwardness, lying, shallowness, hypocrisy, and rampant sexual desire. It's just that now, thanks to these apps, that wonderful world is just 0 feet away.

Blogging Made Easier

As I sit here pondering my decision to have a 3 hour gap between my first class and the rest of them, I am reminded that I should actually blog. So today in true Martha Stewart fashion I am going to give you 5 easy things you can do that will make for an entertaining blog post:

1. By far the easiest is to take a picture of something or someone and make fun of it or make it look ridiculously cute. The wittier you are the better you will pull this off. Easy Targets: People at WalMart, Baby Animals, Church Signs, Traffic Signs that contradict one another, Celebrities & Children's Drawings.

2. Video yourself. Say whatever you want, again it helps to be witty. Things that can assist in making this approach successful: a webcam (duh!), costumes, an expressive face & eloquence when speaking.

3. Discuss media: music, movies, webpages, books, games, etc. Everyone loves pop culture and whatever you have to say has to be at least as interesting as whatever someone else has to say. Go hear a cool band *ding* blog it. Go see that new blockbuster movie *ding* blog it. Play a game that frustrates the hell out of you *ding* blog it.

4. Write about something that is out of the ordinary or is downright ridiculous. Santa driving your city bus, Shit your dad says, people repeatedly walking into a window that they think is a door... there are gems that happen everyday around each of us, believe me I work at a bar.

5. Make a list of things in a process to make things easier for someone else: like this blog entry. Good at cooking?... Awesome... post recipes and discuss foods... Got a hobby? You have an outlet and a way to get ideas from others.

Now, that I have given you some help, 100MCers... Where the Hell are You?