Guilt-free play

My wife and I have a consistent discussion about the value of "play" and "down-time". This often occurs when one of us starts a new book. Its hard for us to fall into the book for hours on end without lots of guilt. Same with most any other leisure activity.

This week's "Speaking of Faith" addresses this issue with an interview with Stuart Brown, the Director of the National Institute for Play. He argues that "play prepares us for an evolving planet," and that without sufficient play time we will find that we are fixed and rigid in response to complex stimuli. Play is universal across the human species as well as almost every other intelligent form of life on the planet.

Take an hour and listen to it. You'll be glad you did.

This one is for RD...

I hate splitting the bill at meals out with friends.  You know, that pansy "Dutch" crap where everyone tries to calculate the additional cost of that soda verses the water.  Or, forbid that you have an appetizer...who picks that up, or do you divide the cost by the total # of people dining and then aggregate that by the # of people in each family to assess a real cost per family?

It's a total headache.

Years ago, my buddy Ming Lu told me of the Chinese custom that whenever a group goes out for a meal, one person always picks up the tab.   I thought What a great idea! And now, when I go out with friends I often offer to get the tab and suggest they get it next time. 

Usually, my friends are OK with this and graciously offer to return the favor next time.  One friend though (and you know who you are!) occasionally comments that I've got some sort of Messiah Complex always trying to demonstrate my power by picking up the tab.  

Well, today on Marketplace, MIT economist Dan Ariely gave some credence to my views.  He demonstrates that the "pain" of splitting a check is much higher than the pain of picking up the tab.

So, next time you're out with your friends.  Take a chance and offer to pick up the tab.  You'll find it feels much better than squabbling over that last $1.59 soda.

Discovering History

I am one of those people that love history. I always have. I remember one day before staring my BA at OC sitting and pondering..."what will I declare as my major tomorrow when I register?". I seriously considered history. But (this is the truth) I decided not to because I figured "What good is a BA in history and I sure don't want to go to graduate school!" (meanwhile, eight years, four graduate degrees, and many school loans later...).

Anyway, I've been doing some historical research of my own lately. On my family history. Just two quick points here.

First, it's an amazing feeling to look back at old documents and find evidence of your ancestors. The image above is the 1870 Census form that shows my grandfather's grandfather at 17 years old (Dewitt Williams). Isn't that cool!?!?!

Second, why is it that people trace so much of their history through the male side of the family? My maternal grandmother has traced her maternal side of the family back to Scotland in the 1700's. Yet, somehow because they are "Ketcherside" and not "Williams", I feel like I need to keep looking. Maybe I'm just a bigot (is that the right word?), but it seems like this is a common phenomenon in geneology circles.

Anyway, just wanted to share the fun.