Seth Godin makes a list of important words.

Discipline, rigor, patience, self-control, dignity, respect, knowledge, curiosity, wisdom, ethics, honor, empathy, resilience, honesty, long-term, possibility, bravery, kindness and awareness.

All of these are real skills, soft skills, learnable skills.

But if they’re skills, that means that they are decisions. A choice we get to make. Even if it’s not easy or satisfying in the short term.

These skills are in short supply sometimes, which makes them even more valuable.

Four months ago, Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi was sleeping outside because he couldn't afford a hotel.

He talked his way into a contract with the @Browns and today he scored an 86-yard punt return TD!

What. A. Moment. @damon015 pic.twitter.com/apiNylE7Wn

— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2019

The dude lied his way into a contract and then this happened. Feels like a movie waiting to happen.

Warren Ellis, writing on his site, tells a tale about filmmaker Kevin Smith. It’s a brief account, but says a lot about Smith.

Seth Godin, writing at this blog, talks about streaks versus habits.

Streaks require commitment at first, but then the commitment turns into a practice, and the practice into a habit.

Habits are much easier to maintain than commitments.

I’m pretty sure that the blog would still have an impact if I missed a day here or there, but once a commitment is made to a streak, the question shifts from, “should I blog tomorrow,” to, “what will tomorrow’s blog say?”

And once you’ve made that shift, it’s 100x easier to find the voice that you’re looking for.

“The sum total of my existence is being written in the present by the choices I make and the priorities I live for. Right now.”

— James Shelley

H/T: Patrick Rhone

Brian Hamilton, writing in The Athletic, has fun interview with University of Illinois sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili. What a wonderful personality. Giorgi is an amazing ambassador for Illinois Basketball and the University of Illinois.

Emma Baccellieri, writing for Sports Illustrated, tells the story about how Major League Baseball requires every ball to be rubbed with special mud from the banks of the Delaware River before being used in an official game.

This always does the trick. It prevents anyone from exploring what he’s actually doing, which is what he’s done for decades, what his father did before him, and his grandfather before him: Bintliff is collecting the mud that is used to treat every single regulation major league baseball, roughly 240,000 per season.

Mud is a family business; it has been for more than half a century. For decades, baseball’s official rule book has required that every ball be rubbed before being used in a game. Bintliff’s mud is the only substance allowed. Originally marketed as “magic,” it’s just a little thicker than chocolate pudding — a tiny dab is enough to remove the factory gloss from a new ball without mucking up the seams or getting the cover too filthy. Equipment managers rub it on before every game, allowing pitchers to get a dependable grip. The mud is found only along a short stretch of that tributary of the Delaware, with the precise location kept secret from everyone, including MLB.

I did not know this about MLB baseballs, and I come from a huge baseball family. The fact that the location is secret makes me chuckle.

David Machese, writing in The New York Times, has wonderfully quirky interview with Nicholas Cage.

I’ve taken risks. But there has been a collision between the acting experiments and the memeification extrapolated from them. That has not been intentional. I have no social media presence. I’m not on Instagram. I am not on Facebook. I have no Twitter account. I genuinely am a private person who does not want his personal life exposed. I wanted to have the mystery of the old stars, always preserved in an enigmatic aura. It’s hard to do that now.

The whole piece is great.

I haven’t really read any of John Green’s books, but I probably should. Occasionally, I see a video post and I remember that his vlog is an excellent source of information and comfort.

This one expresses many of the same feelings I have today.

"It’s easy for us to place it all on Donald Trump’s shoulders... This is us. And if we’re going to get past this we can’t blame it on him. He's a manifestation of the ugliness that’s in us." @esglaude says white people must reckon with the continued presence of racism in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/dclEaLsrK9

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 6, 2019

"DID WE JUST HOMER OFF DEGROM?!"

@diaz_isan's PUMPED-UP dad was mid-interview when his guy took a Cy Young winner DEEP for his 1st hit in his MLB debut. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/rOwjYdjr01

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 5, 2019

What a reaction.

Often, too often, I need to be reminded of what’s really important in my life.

I easily get sidetracked selfishly focusing on the next shiny object. I lose track of the hierarchy of importance. Family, friends, the here and now are important. Entertainment, the news, and social media should take up far less of my time.

It should probably take up far less of yours.

pic.twitter.com/nNOVtQ50O4

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 5, 2019

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane.... it me.

— Superman (@Superman) August 5, 2019

Jason Kottke, writing at his site, has put up a new version of the same article.

Like many of you, I read the news of a single person killing at least 20 people in El Paso, Texas yesterday and another person killing at least 9 people In Dayton, Ohio early this morning. While these are outrageous and horrifying events, they aren’t surprising or shocking in any way in a country where more than 33,000 people die from gun violence each year.

America is a stuck in a Groundhog Day loop of gun violence. We’ll keep waking up, stuck in the same reality of oppression, carnage, and ruined lives until we can figure out how to effect meaningful change. I’ve collected some articles here about America’s dysfunctional relationship with guns, most of which I’ve shared before. Change is possible — there are good reasons to control the ownership of guns and control has a high likelihood of success — but how will our country find the political will to make it happen?

There will be no political will while Republicans are in office and on the courts. None.

I need all of Ocean’s 11 to get their own space helmet poster pic.twitter.com/EattJf5pnL

— Kqcn (@academyframe) August 4, 2019

Easy pick for me: Speed Racer (2008, 40% Rotten Tomatoes). Unapologetically corny, occasionally strangely affecting, and beautiful in an unreal, hallucinatory way. Also the first ten minutes are a master class in 21st century digital cinematic editing.https://t.co/bJO7UJ3uZM pic.twitter.com/QjxS5V9KHk

— John Scalzi (@scalzi) August 3, 2019

I’m a tad bit older than John Scalzi, but his pick is mine too. I love Speed Racer. In fact, I need to watch it again soon.

Nicholas Bate with a list of seven things with remarkable healing powers –

1. A good night’s sleep.

2. Fresh, local and perfectly steamed green vegetables.

3. A trusted friend.

4. Sun-rise plus freshly-brewed coffee.

5. A good book.

6. A long bath.

7. A proper week-end.

Rob Bricken, writing his Nerd Processor column in the OneZero publication on Medium, thinks the new Star Wars-themed Galaxy’s Edge amusement park is too real. The thing is… he hasn’t even been to the park. He hasn’t set foot inside, rode the rides, tasted the food, and interacted with the “cast members” who work inside. None of it.

This guy wrote 1,400 words about an amusement park he hasn’t visited yet but is worried it’s too authentic. He’s got almost 2,000 claps. This motherfucker wrote a review about a place he’s never fucking been to. Can I get a job writing 1,400-word pieces about, I don’t know, movies I’ve never seen? Music I’ve never listened to? Video games I’ve never played.

There is absolutely zero value to this article for the reader. Please don’t read it.