About last year

Things I figured out/learned/noticed in 2008 (in no particular order).

1. Always carry a notebook and a pencil, even if you are also carrying a laptop.


2. Ten years after telling myself "You're too old to lie to yourself and the world" I am still doing so.


3. Crossing the Atlantic seems more unpleasant and less interesting each time I do it.


4. Nearly everyone else in the world is as lonely and as hungry for contact as you are.


5. Everyone responds positively to a smile and a friendly word.


6. A little kindness goes a long way.


7. The surest way to become happy is by making someone else happy.


8. I need to say "no" more often.


9. I need to say a clear and definite "yes" more often too.


10. I need to take my responsibilities more seriously.


11. I need to take myself less seriously.


12. Some problems do not go away if you ignore them.


13. Most problems are far less drastic than they first seem.


14. Cooking makes me happy.


15. I am probably not going to die any time soon, so I should start thinking about how the next few decades will look.


16. My desire to help you does not mean that you desire to be helped, or even that you are willing to admit that you might need help.


17. People who would be shocked or disturbed to hear the truth would abandon you sooner or later anyway, so better tell them right now and get it over with.


18. My default personality, the Udge who blogs here, is only one of many possible Me's.


19. My "minority personalities" have skills and positive qualities that my default personality cannot or will not access; but they can express these attributes in my real life.


20. Being groomed and then slept on by a cat is somehow very comforting.


21. There's much more to life than money, but having no money sucks.