[I took the image above from a page with an essay by Bryan Caplan on the EconLib website.] It’s a totally natural human tendency to attempt to downplay the desirability of things we think we’ll have to work too hard to achieve. In fact, it’s such a common phenomenon that we have an expression for…
“Why”…Wednesdays
163. Why Read TJ Klune
I grabbed the photo above from TJ Klune’s Goodreads page (not his website). I love that both pages both show his photo with his dog…or perhaps a borrowed dog who’s quite cute and likes having its photo taken. Plus, check out the Santa-Saturn-stars-snowflakes-sword-unicorn sweater — awesome! If you’ve been reading my blog for more than…
162. Why OMAH
During our school’s spirit week, I wrote about why I love and hate spirit week. I don’t think I mentioned the all-time queen of “dress like a nerd” day, JWT. notice in the photo above the total commitment to her art — the fake teeth (she kept in all day, to go with her “Well,…
161. Why Be Aspirational
[I took the photo above from Contractor website.] Some people have said to me, in the comments on my blog and in person, how impressed they are with my thoughtful attention to the words I use or don’t use when I’m speaking. They’re assuming that because I’ve published an essay about how much I deplore…
160. Why, a Poem
I took the photo above. Someone taped the note to the inside of the bathroom stall door at my school. I’m going to assume that “Keep pushing through” is a generic message of encouragement rather than one meant for the specific action being taken while reading the note. Inspired by the photo and a recent…
159. Why People Listened
[I took the photo above from Britannica’s website.] If you’re reading this not too long after I post it and you live in the United States, you’ve probably recently had a Monday different from your usual work or school. Either you got the day off or you participated in activities designed to further the teachings…
158. Why There’s No Path
[Screen shot of photo above comes from this website, where I think you can buy the poster.] My school’s motto is, “Guided by each other, let us seek better paths.” I really like the part about guiding each other, but I’ve been less sure lately about the path-seeking part. Some people here talk about finding…
157. Why Did I Care?
I did not take the photo above. It comes from a WSPA article about a stuffed-animal collection drive to let people know about National Adoption Awareness Month. I like the picture because the image captures the overwhelmed feeling I had (several years ago) that moved me to reduce the number of stuffed animals in our…
156. Why Write What I Don’t Know
I took the comic above from All About Writing’s post “Write what you KNOW? Write what you DON’T Know”. It’s amazing to me how often I think of a great idea for a post, only to realize someone else came up with almost the same title several years earlier. Fortunately, in this case, author Michelle…
155. Why Humor
A couple months ago, I dyed the bottom half of my hair pink for several reasons: I like pink and wanted to make my hair match my shoes. (At least something I wear should match, right?) I needed a haircut soon anyway. To copy my Teaching Fellow, whose hair was pink and purple at the…