i don’t know how this happened, but i am now the number one result for the google search of ‘how chimpanzee jump‘. and someone actually came to my blog after doing that search. i’m glad to have contributed to the body of knowledge concerning aerial monkey maneuvers. next up is tackling the mystery of where the dmv finds its employees. stay tuned.

it’s not often that i have muhammed-like revelations on my walk home from the train station. if they happened more often, i’d have far more than the only two restraining orders currently against me. if my neighbors knew what a wacko they lived near, property values would plummet and frogs just might fall from the sky–which might bring property values back up even higher. the economy is going through a rather delicate time right now.

now that i’ve laid a foundation for bringing a winning lawsuit against me, let me share the revelation i had.  we all have hobbies that we enjoy taking part in and we all have goals in life (lofty or not) that we wish to reach. what i hadn’t realized up until now is how these two pieces can do powerful things together. i’ve been previously told that the best way to reach a goal is to take baby steps towards it. this afternoon i went one step further and realized that the best way to reach and exceed a goal is to forget that it even exists. my strategy is now to only use a goal for direction (to answer the question ‘what do i want to achieve?’), and to turn what i want to achieve into a hobby that i take part in every day, that i enjoy for the sake of enjoying, and that eventually becomes a part of me. by that point it won’t matter whether you reach your initial goal or not since you’ll be basking in your progress and having a blast every day when you do your hobby thing.

there are very few people that are top in their field who didn’t start their career with a hobby. it all starts with a spark of interest and a journey down the path of learning for learning’s sake. sure there are benefits along the way, depending on the area of learning, but once you start focusing on these you will lose sight of learning for enjoyment and enjoying the journey, which is really the best way to live life in general.

disclaimer: this post is for purely entertainment purposes only. any actions you take are not my responsibility and any consequences of those actions are yours and yours alone. you must be over 18 to read this, depending on local laws. if frogs fall from the sky, that is the fault of the frogs and has nothing to do with me or the frog launcher i just finished building. yes, i have strange hobbies and no you cannot borrow my frog launcher for your son’s birthday party. go build your own.

i’ve told some of you about my very nice, but very eccentric downstairs neighbor. my first introduction to his eccentricities was when i posted on a local internet message board asking for advice on laundromats in the area. the morning after my post, i discovered a typewritten letter addressed to me that had been slipped under my door. it was from my neighbor and contained some useful-to-someone-but-not-to-me advice. i’m still baffled as to why he didn’t just push the ‘email’ button that appears next to your username on the message board.

sunday night i came home to this taped to my door:

i now know one person who bakes a loaf of bread, cuts one slice for each of his neighbors, and tapes them to their doors. colin, if you’re reading this, your cooking is fine, but next time just make cookies or something.

and that’s all i have to say about that.