That’s right. A book, held by your neck. Also known as a book on a necklace. Or should we call it a neckbook? Check it out!

These are big themes in my life right now. I’m frustrated by the amount of clutter (physical and mental) in my life right now, but my progress in simplifying has been halting, at best. Today, I was thinking about how I could simplify, and I had a very freeing thought.

You can’t change what other people expect from you, but you can change what you expect from yourself. Therefore, you can simplify by eliminating expectations for yourself. It’s something that you can do almost instantly, and the results are wonderful.

Think through your task list, and even beyond it to the “ought list.” The “ought list” is that impossibly long list of things you ought to do, hope to do, beat yourself up about, but know you’ll never get to. In my case, my ought list contains the beginnings of projects that sounded wonderful at the time, but no longer hold any interest to me. In many cases, the ought list contributes to clutter in my house. I save things that I ought to use for a craft, and books that I ought to read.

The crazy thing is–no one is telling me to read those books. No one else cares if I read those books. I’m the one that decided that I should read them, and now I don’t want to read them anymore. So guess what? I don’t need to read them. And I don’t need to make those crafts. In fact, I can cut my losses and get rid of the clutter associated with those “oughts.”

You can do it too.

disclaimer: I thought the video was funny, but I did not “almost drown laughing” like the scientist in the article.

I’ll be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber for one day this summer, so I tried punching that in. It shows me a map, gives me the population, local time, temperature, etc. Lots of great stuff, all on one page.

However, when I tried “history of Rothenburg ob der Tauber,” Wolfram Alpha told me that it does not support Latin.

I don’t support Latin either. Oh well.

I think the name “Wolfram Alpha” is funny. But I also think it looks like a useful tool, one which I will use in spite of the funny name and the obvious prejudice again Latin!

The Phonetics project gives pronunciation examples of every sound in English, German, and Spanish. For each sound, there is a Flash animation of the mouth, a step-by-step description of making the sound, and a video of a native speaker saying the sound plus three words that have the sound. My only gripe is that the descriptions for the German part are in German, and I don’t understand them. No, I haven’t yet learned the German word for “soft palate”! I guess it’s time to get out the dictionary!

I found this older article from Freakonomics amusing. The “complications” of doing a double-blind study involving God made me smile. Of course, Christians don’t need a study to tell us that prayer works, but it’s interesting to think about anyway.

Sometimes I like Peggy Noonan’s stuff, and sometimes I don’t. I liked this article, and not just because hedgehogs are cute.

Speaking of hedgehogs, if you like to sew, you might like this free pattern for a hedgehog softie from LollyChops.

That’s all for now.

My point is, we don’t want to be mediocre. Most of us dream about being a star, a genius. We admire people who push the limits in their fields. We wish that we could do amazing things. We want to win ridiculous amounts of Olympic medals like Michael Phelps, or save the country from financial crisis. Yes, even perfectly respectable adults have their daydreams, just like Walter Mitty. That’s why we read fiction and watch movies.

Daydreams can be nice ways to escape the boring reality of every day life, but they can also trap us. When we “wake up” from the dream, we console ourselves by saying that we could be great if we were only blessed with the incredible talent that so-and-so has. If we had their genes, we would be amazing too.

But the evidence suggests that we’re wrong.

We’re not mediocre because we have mediocre genes. We’re mediocre because we’re lazy.

Sure, there are basic facts of nature and physics that shape our ability. We all know that Michael Phelps was built to swim. But beyond the basic physics stuff, research suggests that practice (lots of it!) plays a larger part in achievement than talent does.

That’s right. If you want to be amazing at something, start practicing. Hard. Every day. For at least 10 years. And make sure you analyze and improve your work as you go along.

This concept hurts a little when you personalize it. Sit there and say, “I’m mediocre because I’m lazy.” Say it softly to yourself a few times, and I’m sure you’ll need a Krispy Kreme doughnut or some dark chocolate to recover from the resulting depression.

It doesn’t have to be depressing, though. See, if only genes determine our capabilities, then we’re doomed to mediocrity. But if practice and [gasp!] work have a large part to play, then it’s not hopeless. If you want to be good at something, you probably can be. You just have to work at it.

If you want to read about this idea, and some of the research behind it, start by reading How to be Great: Rising Above the Talent Myth (from Litemind). It’s the article that [most recently] got me thinking about this topic. That article references several other interesting articles, listed below.

What it takes to be Great

The Expert on Experts

Expert Performance and Deliberate Practice

Innate Talents: Reality or Myth?

And here are a few more (not from the Litemind article)

The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance

How did A-Rod Get So Good?

A Star is Made

If you still want more to read, start looking for stuff with Anders Ericsson’s name on it. Or start reading the The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (it’s approximately 900 pages, so don’t plan to finish it tonight). Better yet, pick something important, and go practice it.

the pattern is called domestic diva

I really like this pattern from Thimble Blossoms. If I keep looking at pictures like this, I will have to spend some serious time getting to know my sewing machine!

Don’t the colors look so cheerful and springy? I don’t even know if the fabrics would be available anymore or where I would find them. So, maybe it’s time to do some research! I never thought that I was into sewing at all, but now that I am seeing the cool things that can be done, I just might have to starting sewing!

Hound of Heaven

I was reading a book that referenced this classic poem, and took the opportunity to read it again. It was a good reminder.

Free recipe cards!

Adorable! I printed a page in every color. Now it’s time to go look for some recipes to put on them!!

Butterfly Project

I really want to do this project. I’m sure I could find the necessary papers, but I don’t have the butterfly punches. Now sure if I want to buy them just for this project. I’m hoping that I can make a template out of cardboard and use it instead (though the punch would be easier). We’ll see.

Obama’s Rhetoric is the Real ‘Catastrophe’

‘Public Interest’ Lawyers say Leave the Homeless to Rot

I’m hoping to write a post about this, so I’ll save my comments for that.

Colors Palate Generator

Cool! I bookmarked this, and plan to use it soon!

Rice bag feet warmer tutorial

I’m not sure when my mom started making us rice socks, but during the winter, I am practically a rice sock addict. When I was a kid, I slept with stuffed animals. Now (when it’s cold), I sleep with my rice sock. I like this tutorial because it’s prettier than my sock, and because I could take off the decorative sleeve and wash it (not possible with my sock). Now I just need some fabric, rice, and enough courage to try to change the thread on my sewing machine. I’m new to this sewing thing . . .

God Comes to Hollywood

Somehow, I don’t think that the sinful Hollywood culture is going to crumble overnight, but just the same, I’m glad to see people celebrating good films!

Now I really, really want to learn how to sew.

No, that’s not what the blog post is called. But that’s how I feel after reading it. The barcelona skirts are so cute!! I really need to get to know my sewing machine. (sigh. After I master all the other myriad subjects I’m interested in!).

Public Relations 101: What Not to Do

The article says that this Muslim man who allegedly beheaded his wife owned a TV “station aimed at countering stereotypes of Muslims.” If that was his goal, he officially failed.

Nutella

This article about nutella reminds me that I haven’t eaten any in a while. I love it on crepes.

Eating in can be just as bad as eating out

Rats. It looks like I have no other option than to eat healthy stuff. Sadness. So much for my nutella crepes.

The end

So, I planned for this post to have my tabs from all week, but it’s only Tuesday, and this is already getting long. Maybe in the future I’ll try to organize my links by subject or something. Let me know what you think!