What inspires you to read, reflect, and journal (or blog)?

Reflection - Mt. Fuji, Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi, Japan - Circa May 2016

The following is an MS Teams conversation with a colleague after learning that we each enjoy reading, reflection and writing: 

T: What inspires you to read, reflect, and journal (or blog)? 

J: I think I was inspired to read by just my curiosity of everything in the world. In my past, I never read that much. I only started reading heavily in the last maybe 3-4 years. Instead of reading, I traveled a lot. I learned a lot that way, from talking to people, observing, feeling, and experiencing. But as I grow older, my responsibilities grow and so travel (although I still do it often) is now not as often as I would want it to be. Reading (specifically non-fiction) has kind of opened up those other avenues to learning and education about things foreign to me while I cannot travel as much.

Reflection is something pretty new to me too. I only really started reflecting on my life when I took a sabbatical from work. That really allowed me to take time to think of my past and my future in great detail. I started to understand better what I was doing, why I was doing things, and what I could do to change or improve my future. The reflection is so important now. I feel like if I didn't have that time (sabbatical) to reflect, then I wouldn't have grown in all the ways I feel like I've grown in the past 5 years. I was out of work for nearly 2 years.

The journaling and blogging has always been a part of my life. My dad used to journal when I was a kid. I grew up on notebook journals and writing events down. I had a calendar that I would just fill in all the boxes with tidbits. So I always did these little things, albeit not as consistently as now. But now I find that my blogging has allowed me to just put my thoughts out there. To not just contain them in my head but to make it "real" by making it public. It helps kind of relieve my brain from just constant thought. And if anyone reads it, then great. If not, then at least I can look back on my thoughts to see how I've grown. And because they're "tangible" I'll never have to wonder what I've possibly forgotten. 

And more recently in my life, writing / blogging is a way for me to pass on my life to whatever children I may have in the future. I looked back on the lives of my parents and thought, I don't really know what their day to day life was like. You get to hear stories and tidbits of whatever they can remember. But those memories are few and far between and obviously not nearly enough for you to understand who your parents are and what they really went through. If they had written it down, you could read it like a book and imagine and fully feel what they experienced and lived. I think that more than anything now is my motivation to write. 

And then kind of as an aside, I feel like the more I put out there for people to read, the better the chance that others get to know me and understand me. And maybe my thoughts will help others in their lives somehow. But that's existential. 

But let me turn it back to you... what is your inspiration to read, reflect, and/or write (if you do all of the above)?

T: That's powerful. You're so right--often times we don't know our parents. We know what they did for us throughout rearing, but we don't know simple things about them like their favorite color or greater things like what they experienced in their lifetimes. I hope your future kids find comfort being able to read about their dad throughout their life. You inspire me to do the same. 

In college (the fist semester of my junior year, to be precise) a profoundly impactful professor told us to never stop reading if we wanted to grow. He said, "You are the sum of two things: the books you read and the people you meet." As someone who craved growth (and still do), it was enough convincing for me to stick my nose in books from that point forward. Similar to your sabbatical, I took a few months off after I graduated and before I started work at [XXXX] and solo backpacked SE Asia. During this time, I required myself to journal each day; so quickly can we forget life-changing experiences--whether we realize it in the moment or in hindsight--if we don't pause from our busy lives to make sense of the what we experienced that day. I reflect on my journals from that trip and can track back to key catalysts and see how they've shaped the man I am today. So, I now live by a slightly amended version of my professors quote: "you are the product of three things: the books you read, the people you meet, and the journal you carry, for your journal is the free-space where you can make sense of your books and experiences." The reason I read, reflect, and write is to make the most of my precious, limited days on this beautiful planet and to wake up with the goal to be a better version of myself from the day before. 

Short Life Advice

I recently started to read a book called Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World by Tim Ferriss. It's exactly what it is says it is - short life advice. It's short because each person included in this eclectic collection answers just 11 questions about life. Tim Ferriss' set of questions were carefully chosen and ordered to foster the best responses from some of the most successful people on the planet. 

I sent these same questions to my closest friends, family, and colleagues because they are no different in my eyes. So I'm using the same set of questions and order. 

I thought it would be even more interesting to read the responses from the people who are closer to me than the company that Ferriss keeps. 

Call it somewhat of a social experiment, but my objective is to continue to learn about this tribe, my tribe, in ways that I don't already know and add their answers to my collection of books because their collection of knowledge and experience is no less important than the authors on my shelves. 

While waiting for their responses, I've already gotten calls to share my own answers. So here they are: 

What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life? 

The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo 

The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason

These 2 books are really easy to read, but the messages are deep and complex. One speaks to finding the treasure within yourself after overcoming obstacles in life and along the journey. The other conveys the wisdom of logic, time, interest, and putting yourself first. Together, these books are a great 1-2 punch out of the gates of college and entering adulthood.

What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last 6 months (or in recent memory)? Be specific.

Blood Pressure Monitor ($44.99 on Amazon) - It’s gotten me to pay specific attention to my, well, blood pressure and pulse. It took a change in medication that caused my heart to beat out of my chest and cause discomfort for me to make this purchase, but it was much needed even before that. Although my diet has been pretty consistent and healthy, the blood pressure monitor has served as my checkmate. I’ve become very conscious of the decisions that I make because this device sits in front of me on my desk in my office. It’s a daily reminder not to abuse my body. 

How has failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a “favorite failure” of yours? 

I’ve failed so many times in my life, it’s impossible to count. But none more life changing than the series of what, at the time, were the most depressing chain of events I could ever imagine. After choosing to leave a comfortable job, after being employed for 14 years, my wife and I decided to take 6 months off to travel around the world. When I came home I had great hope and positivity about quickly re-joining the workforce. While we were planning the trip, throughout the trip, and even when we first came home, I had little doubt I’d be able to find a job and get right back to it - continuing my professional career. I was never so wrong in my life. 

In a span of 17 months, I applied to 181 different jobs. 112 did not respond. I was informed that I was not selected for 61 of them. I interviewed for 4 but was never contacted ever again. One of my applications was withdrawn. I was given 3 offers, 2 of which I had to decline after weighing all the options. The more time that passed without a positive response, the deeper the depression I would get into and the more I questioned my previous actions. Every response, or lack thereof, was a failure to me. 

A change of scenery and an employer’s need to fill a role quickly finally gave me the break I needed. But because I was filling someone else’s need before my own, this job was ultimately a failure too. I couldn’t stay there. It wasn’t worth the time I was losing, the sacrifices I was making, or the stress I was enduring. 

The brightest side of that failure was that it enabled me and gave me the determination to finish my studies for the CPA exam. And in the last quarter of 2019, I passed my final part and earned my certification. 

My success today is based on the fact that I never really gave up, despite how awful it felt along the journey. It’s the most common failure/success story (the CPA part), but it’s mine. I lived it. I toughed it out. I am still learning from it because I still look back on it when I need motivation. 

If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere with anything on it - metaphorically speaking, getting a message out to millions or billions - what would it say and why? It could be a few words or paragraph. (If helpful, it can be someone else’s quote: Are there any quote you think of often or live your life by?)

"The biggest room in the world...is the room for improvement."

Education is the most valuable intangible in the universe. Big data, oil / energy, investments, and cash don’t even have the fraction of value or importance that Education has. It’s so important that I’m going to capitalize the “E” in Education from now on - because it’s that proper and necessary. 

Everyone has room to grow, learn, and improve. My wife always says that it’s not that you don’t have the time, it’s that you haven’t prioritized what you want to do. 

And as I would say, “Failing to learn, is learning to fail.” Has anyone ever said that before? I don’t know. But I always have. 

What is one of the best or most worthwhile investment you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.)

There’s not one. There are collections. And those collections grow all the time. My favorite, though, are the ones called “Life Experiences.” In this collection are eating and traveling memories. My wife and I used to say that we travel to eat, and when we eat, we travel to the origin of that food in our minds and the memories from the places we’ve been. 

Eating daal reminds me of 14 days trekking through the Himalayas to Mt. Everest Base Camp. When I eat sushi, I can’t help but imagine sitting in front of Jiro. A taco puts my mind on a stool at a street stand called Taqueria Honorio in Tulum. A hot dog throws me back to a bite at Portillo’s in Chicago. Or halal food places me on a street corner in Manhattan at 2AM waiting on line for the Halal Guys to serve up a platter with white sauce. 

Every life experience I’ve had has been an addition to my collections and they’ve all been worthwhile. Even the bad ones, because of #4 above. 

What is an unusual habit or an absurd thing that you love? 

I love a play on words. That’s probably why I enjoy rap/hip-hop music so much. The wit, humor, and quickness of the lyricism is fascinating to me. I feel intelligent when I can digest what artists are saying. It’s a combination of history, poetry, logic, and grace in a rhythmic manner making music catchy, smart, and colloquial. Rap/hip-hop have a bad rep for negativity. But if you really break down what some of the songs are about, it’s genius. You have to know about a variety of things both in popular culture and history to really get it. Maybe that means I have just enough knowledge to be cool. 

In the last 5 years, what new belief, behavior, or habit has most improved your life? 

Reading / studying early in the morning. It started out just to improve my retention when I was studying for my CPA exam, but I’ve found that reading in the morning has really allowed me to enjoy the content of my books, whether fiction or nonfiction. I purposely make time for reading in the morning. 

Also, I’ve gotten into coffee in the last 2 years. And taking it in the morning with a book I’m reading is almost always the perfect start. 

I actually think that the combination of the two has produced far better results than I initially hoped for and created a better lifestyle, one that I can really enjoy. 

In the near future, I’m going to try to incorporate writing into my routine. Maybe that will be once a week. 

What advice would you give to a smart, driven college student about to enter the “real world”? What advice should they ignore? 

Two things. Find a fitting mentor. Find balance. A mentor can help you find your balance in the long run, but of course, not directly. When you figure out what you want to do or have a direction you want to point, someone can help you navigate how to get there. You will have to do a lot on your own but rely on your resources to speed up the process some. 

I tell the people whom I work with or whom I mentor that I may not have all the answers, but I am sure as hell that we can find someone who can help us get to the ones we need in the order that we need them. 

When you combine the guidance with your own hard work, you will eventually find the balance you need in work, life, and pleasure.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise? 

“Fake it until you make it.” FUCK THAT. I hate that so much. The only person you’re hurting is yourself. Yea, sure, you can fake knowing how to do something or why something is done, but eventually you will end up at a dead end. Someone is going to come to a realization that you’re a fool. And your reputation is going to be tarnished for the foreseeable future. 

I’d much rather be upfront and tell someone that I don’t understand or can’t figure something out than fake it. 

I think what I hate so much about it is that people get away with it. And then when you go to rely on those people, they end up being unreliable. My trust in them is busted. That person is no longer a resource but a drag on my well-being. Go ahead. Try that shit on me and see how quickly I drop you like dead weight. 

Ain’t nobody got time for that. 

In the last 5 years, what have you become better at saying no to (distractions, invitations, etc.)? What new realizations and/or approaches helped? Any other tips? 

Sugar. For years, doctors and the media have hyped the detriments of salt. High blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, dementia, kidney failure, brain damage can all result from too much salt. I get it. It’s a well known fact and to some extent, we’ve gotten that under control. 

But sugar… no one talks about how bad it is for you. It’s an empty calorie. Sugar causes weight gain. It can cause tooth cavities. Sugar increases your risk of fatty liver, diabetes, and eventually heart disease. It’s just as bad as salt. 

I’ve curtailed my sugar intake so much. It’s changed the way I can maintain my weight. I eat more fruits and vegetables, rather than processed / packaged snacks (which is another thing I’ve said no to). My life is much improved. I feel better. I have more energy. And I don’t pack on the pounds or have a hard time getting rid of them. 

With regards to processed food, I’ve learned that if I want to have processed food, the organic stuff has worked better for me. I’ve found that processed products that are more water soluble are easier to digest. The best visual example I can give is… take a regular jar of Smuckers jelly or jam once you’ve pretty much emptied it. There are, of course, some remaining bits stuck to the side or bottom of the jar. Fill that jar with water, shake it up, and pour it out. More often than not, there’s still jam/jelly stuck to the jar. That’s your insides with processed food. 

Now try that same experiment with organic jelly or jam, and you’ll find a completely different result. You will see that the residue slides right out with a quick shake of water. 

Say no (more often) to sugar and processed food. Your insides will thank me. 

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, or have lost your focus temporarily, what do you do? (If helpful: What questions do you ask yourself?)

I step away from my desk, stretch, drink water, and go for a walk. If that doesn’t clear me up, then I go to sleep. Sleep can help re-energize the body's cells, and most importantly in this situation, clear waste from the brain. That feeling of being overwhelmed or unfocused... that’s the waste. 

Having A Job Changes Some Things, But Not All

It's been 551 days since my last blog post. But it's not that I haven't been writing, or traveling, or eating, or reading, or watching random things. It's that I got a job.

Actually, I've held 1 and am on to my second since my last entry. A week after my Kim's Convenience plug / question, I started a Tax job at a restaurant company. And after 13 months there, I landed a better, more fulfilling job, at a tax consulting firm.

So I guess the only thing that's really changed is that I haven't posted on my website. I haven't made time to edit what I've written in my regular journal. I haven't prepped photos to help visualize my writing. I haven't prioritized this, more social, pursuit in my life. I haven't shared my thoughts, with you, my readers - if any of you still even exist.

Part of it has been that I haven't really wanted spend time doing the work needed to update the website. I've spent my time reading more books, taking care of our property, looking at investments, organizing our home and finances. The website has taken a back seat.

But then I get into cycles...

Should I try, yet again, to resuscitate a dying breed? Are blogs even still relevant, read, or referred to? Or have the the videos (again) killed yet another medium?

Pen Pals

Did you ever have a pen pal?

It's not so common these days. But back in the day, there was simple entertainment and fun in having a friend on the other side of the globe. It was usually someone your age (if done through a school exchange program) or someone you knew from a random trip and the both of you decided to keep in touch. It started with the exchange of addresses. And every once-in-a-while you'd send each other a letter in the mail. Yes, snail mail. You'd pay the postage for wherever far off land you new friend was, and you'd exchange stories about your lives.

My first pen pal was my aunt! She was still living in the Philippines at the time. This was in 1989. I was in first grade, and we had just gotten our first computer and dot-matrix printer. The operating system was MS-DOS, and there was a very crude word processing program available. I'd type up a short letter for her, most likely about nothing special, then print it out and mail it to her.

Some weeks or months later, I'd receive a hand-written letter back from her. It was always written on yellow legal pad paper in her excellent, teacher-like penmanship. She wrote in script, so mom or dad had to read it to me.

I will never forget the one story she relayed to me. A typhoon had recently passed through the area and severe flooding was occurring throughout. My aunt and family owned and lived on a farm with various animals. She described to me how terrible the weather was for the animals and what sacrifices she made to secure them. But at one point, despite her efforts, the pigs escaped! And they were swimming in the flood waters. My aunt had to swim after them to save them. What a story!

Back then, that was part of their livelihood. The enormous pigs were cash cows, figuratively and literally. The sale of a pig could generate a considerable sum of money, so saving the 100+ pound beasts from raging flood waters was imperative. I remember the written descriptions made me feel fear; then it made me smile and laugh. And the story taught me a lot about life in a different place.

I digress.

Since those days, it's been so much easier to keep in touch with people you've befriended. The internet has simplified it through email, text, chat apps, Facebook, Instagram, and the like; and to some extent has made it more safe. (Although you've all gotten that email from the Nigerian Prince or the Prince of Zamunda, right? Haha.)

I have new pen pals these days. People we've met along the way throughout our travels - we try to keep in touch with. We exchange emails every so often coordinating potential joint trips, checking in on the goings-on of their seemingly close locales with regards to politics / economics / stability / tourism / etc, and asking about their families or significant others or spouses. Pen-pal-ing is much easier to do in this day and age. Although, should we coin a new name for it? Hardly anyone puts pen to paper anymore for these purposes...

Did you have a pen pal? Do you still keep in touch with them? If not, aren't you curious who they've become and what they're up to now?

If I Only Kept Doing This One Thing...

When I was young, my dad made me write everything down. I kept a notepad to keep track of my nightly homework assignments. I had a daily planner to write down things that I did and reminders of important events. And we had an actual calendar (one of those given away by the church every year) to record what days mom and dad would be working for the week/month. It's funny because we kept that calendar in the bathroom, behind the door, in front of the commode. Everyone goes to the toilet, right?

I wish I had been more consistent in my writing, note-taking, and calendar updates. And more significantly, I wish I had kept all those journals, planners, and calendars. It would have been cool if I had them electronically.

There was a point where I kept an electronic journal of daily events, but I think at one point in my life I thought it was too boring, that I wasn't as exciting as I thought I was. Now it's becoming hard to recall all the activities, achievements, accolades, experiences, and encounters that I have made me who I am today.

I am in the process of trying to write an autobiography. (To be fair and honest, I keep telling myself this and have been trying to accomplish this for many years already.) And calling to mind the millions of facts, events, circumstances of any kind of memory I had of the past is a near impossible task. But I'm going to try to document as much as my brain can muster in clarity.

Hopefully, one day I will have a book of stories, lessons, interesting facts, realizations, insights, and hidden facts for my child(ren) to one day look back on and read in amazement their cool collection of dad.

It Helps To Jot It Down

I recently started doing something that I used to do daily while at work. Keep a daily notebook.

It's been very helpful to keep track of things that I need to do (make a checklist), take notes of interesting things I've read about, define words that I didn't know the meaning of previously, and jot down ideas that I've come up with hoping to expound on them in the future (next big idea?).

My notebook is starting to get filled with a variety of crude information, and it's helping me keep organized and not let ideas vanish into thin air. It's also helped me to keep my anxiety and stress levels down.

Almost every day, I flip back through it to make sure I've accomplished the tasks I previously wrote down and briefly review ideas I've come up with and informational (work and life related) blurbs meant to remind me of bankable knowledge.

Do you keep a daily notebook?

To Be Continued... Just Not Daily

I've decided. Today is going to be my last day of consecutive days writing 300 to 1000+ words a day in my blog. It's been such a great challenge. I've been able to write about so many topics, such as politics, economics, climate change, books, life, family, feelings, lessons, food, experiences, technology, investments, polls, opinions, current events, etc. Shoot, I even did an interview! And in one of my posts, I wrote some rhymes!

I think what I enjoyed the most was coming up with a title to each of the posts. My approach has been to title my writing after all was done and written up to my liking. I realized quickly that starting out with a title made it nearly impossible to think of enough content to fulfill the expectation. Most times, a phrase or an analogy that I would talk about would end up being my title. I've also found a lot of my titles to be creative and funny. I'm not sure what other people think of them, but I sometimes want to pay myself on the back when I read them back.

Secondary to the titles has to go to finding illustrations to match the topics. Sometime I scour the internet for photos, comics, and other imagery to help invite readers to my post. I learned that with Blogger, the first photo in your post is used as the thumbnail for any links to the post. So choosing the best first pic is important. And I suppose that's one of the handicaps of using Blogger; you have less choice. When I choose an image I tend to look for something colorful, funny, and something that conveys my writing. I want that when you see the thumbnail you have a slight idea what it may be about before you start reading. I hope I've done a decent job with this.

The worst part about the past 45 days of blogging are the days when my mind is blank, when I cannot think of a decent topic worth writing about. Granted, not all the subjects I've chosen have been the most interesting to everyone, but I've been able to speak to them for at least 300+ words. I've had a few close calls too. Some nights I've put blogging off until the last minutes of the day. But I can say that I've successfully posted without missing one for 45 days.

I guess you can say that this post is a little bit of a cop out, but it's a recap of what I've done for this challenge. It's a nice look back at my progress, difficulties, and enjoyment throughout. In fact, here are a couple of my favorite posts from the past 45:

- The Cookie Monster Wants CAKE?

- Risk More Than Others And Dream Like You Mean It

Did you like any of them in particular? Let me know. I'm always interested to hear your opinions.

Going forward, I'm sure I'll be blogging regularly but less than daily. Maybe that will encourage you all to keep up with me more often. In fact, maybe my next challenge will be to take topics from you and write about them. Who wants to participate? What's my next topic? (542)

Day 17 Of The Challenge

Today is Day 17 of my 500 (really just 300) Words-A-Day challenge to myself. And I'm struggling yet again to find a topic to write about but forcing myself to put some sentences on the page. Does it count if I contributed 156 words to my other blog? Or is that cheating? Haha.

I think it's been tough to find subjects to post about because I've been cooped up all day at home. And although I read the news online, watch television, read books and magazines daily, I don't have the constant interaction with other people. I believe it's that discussion time, that spur of the moment thinking, and dynamic / at-this-very-moment stream of consciousness thought process that really diversifies an experience. Trains of thought and exchanges of ideas in the midst of conversation are what give your mind the helpful dose of creativity and mental ammunition for good writing.

There's only so much you can think about while you're alone. Walking to the gym to exercise or taking a 5 mile stroll around town are certainly good times to provoke thought but for me the ideas just recycle themselves. For a fresh outlook, I really believe I need an exchange with another human.

I suppose that's why going to work / being in the office always kept my mind churning. I constantly felt busy or that my mind was so full. I remember always having random thoughts. The conversations I had with co-workers and colleagues was always interesting. We had a steady flow of material and not enough time to share it all.

Thankfully, tomorrow, I'll be going out to lunch with my relatives to celebrate my dad's birthday. I'm sure I'll have some interesting conversations with them that should spur some ideas.

Unemployment, you're messing with my mind! (300)

Standing At The Airport, Waiting For A Train

Today, as I struggle to find something to write about, I decided to have a look back at my old posts in this blog. Doing that was a good reminder to reflect on the past every once in a while.

I realized that I've been blogging for a while, albeit very inconsistently, since 2008. The funny part is that I didn't have my own domain name until 2013, when I registered it with GoDaddy. Although I cannot remember the actual reason for registering this domain, I'm sure it had something to do with wanting to brand myself and not be a subdomain of a generic website (ie. blogspot). And I probably wanted to keep up with the times and the social / internet evolution. Over the years, I've registered a number of domains with the hope of conjuring up some kind of business or idea to make use of the outlet. Nothing major has come out of any of them yet.

Anyway, some of the content I had in the past was fairly interesting. I wrote with such passion about some things and other entries were merely updates about myself. Then there was a phase where I wouldn't write about myself and concentrated on topics of interest (or so I thought they were. Who knows what others thought?). And I actually had an interactive audience back then. I wonder where they are now?

I also used to follow a number of blogs in the past, many of them friends. When I tried to peer into those websites this morning, I found that many of them no longer exist. And those that were still present are currently inactive, meaning they haven't posted in months or years. I recall that the people I subscribed to were interesting writers whose content and writing style kept me interested. I wonder where they are now? I'm sure they still lead active, fun lifestyles but lack the time to share through writing. Or maybe they still write, but microblog through Twitter or FaceBook or Instagram, which I do too (man, I'm shameless).

Over the years, I can see that my writing has improved and my interests have evolved. The one thing that has not changed about me is that I constantly look to learn something new. And in that, I believe I'm successful. My first post was about "success" and that it is a journey, not a destination. So here's to the continuation of my journey - that I may navigate the twists and turns of life as well as the land, air, and sea around the world in a safe and enlightening way, to learn as much as possible from others, and to share the insights I have accumulated along the way.

500 Words A Day?

I read an article recently on Medium that was really intriguing. I'm not a writer. I didn't get a degree in literature or communications. And my vocabulary certainly isn't large enough to compete in any kind of competition. But I'm an occasional blogger. I like to share my thoughts, ideas, and tidbits about my life. And I'm educated enough to convey these things via social media.

So I'm going to try an experiment in writing 500 words a day via this blog to see what kinds of changes my mind and writing style go through. This will be an exercise in development, discipline, imagination, and creativity. I have a feeling that I will have to take down some of the walls that I normally build in order to keep up with the minimum requirements.

For example, I normally don't write about my feelings. That may have to change. I try to stay away from strong opinions and politics. But lately, it's a topic that's worth writing about. And I also keep a distance from posting about things I'm not too familiar with. But maybe if I do, I'll get some good feedback from my readers and even learn from it. Also, I usually wait until I have something worth saying before I blog. I think I have to take heed of Rao's claim that, "If I waited to be inspired, I'd be screwed" and just write away. Although I have no obligation to write, I think forcing myself to write will really evoke thoughts, feelings, ideas, and opinions from the depths of my mind. It's time to "put pen to paper" or in this day and age, get my "fingers to typing?"

Rao's exercise was for 1,000 words. But one thousand words isn't so easy to accumulate. So I've decided to start at half of his rate. It's still going to be pretty difficult. For the sake of example, "this" is the 320th word in this blog post. Maybe I should start at one-third his rate seeing as I'm not half the writer Rao is.

Yup, that's what it's going to be. (352)