Hmmmmm.... I find it interesting that most of the best moments of DN's life have been about winning a game -- or achieving a personal victory in a competitive arena or accomplishing something challenging.

That's kind'a sad. While such victories can produce exciting moments and boost our self-esteem, they are fleeting. I was a little disappointed the blog did not include a few more "quiet" moments of deep personal happiness ... of the type that will last a lifetime. Where is the "deep" Daniel who used to write blogs that reflected a more profound bent?

Some people define themselves by what they do. It is a form of motivation. Others define themselves by who they are. A more internal source of definition. Neither is "better" or should be considered as "sad". At different points in my life I have varied a little in my own self-definition, but have mostly been on the end of the spectrum characterized as defining myself by what I do. This has led me to be able to set and achieve goals. When I am successful, I am pretty happy. However this also leads to "unhappiness" when I have a bad day or fall short of my goals. I think someone who has the more internal source of self-definition tends to be more "even" in those swings. This sort of individual hasn't had their self-definition rocked by a bad day. They just go home as the same person they started the day being.

These two tendencies are also somewhat associated with "Type A" vs. "Type B" personalities. Also, Extroverts often get their energy charged by going out in public. While Introverts often recharge alone, reading a book or just going for a solo walk. Just two different personality traits.

Notice that Daniel's descriptions of the moments are personal successes in a public or otherwise external forum. He is apparently motivated by, and gets his energy from external sources. That isn't "sad" it is just different from someone who is motivated by other sources.

You make a good, valid point. I know it's "normal" for people (particularly by those driven by testosterone) to have their peak moments be victories in competitive arenas ... but I still miss the Daniel in the blogs who used to talk about more profound subjects.

The old Daniel might have included a few more introspective thoughts in that blog.

You sound like someone who hasnt won any championships

There are aspects of my personal life that I just can't really share anymore. I don't talk about a lot of things, because it may be unfair to others involved. For example, who I date, etc.

I don't know ... I'm an introvert and a homebody, but if I picked the top moments of my life, I think in some way they too would be public. Hiking the Grand Canyon, visiting Tokyo, being on Jeopardy, having an NPR commentary, having my book published. It's not that quiet moments haven't been important to me, but "quiet" and "top ten standouts" just don't really go together. If the blog had been about "most deeply meaningful moments," that would have been different.

What a sick brag post!

You are still missing one thing though. Where's the Jeopardy link in your sig?

You know, I totally didn't mean that to be a brag post at all. It's just stuff I've done.

Lady Grey found a still picture of me on Jeopardy, but I couldn't find it just now, and as far as I know there aren't any other links.

So, what was it like to be on Jeopardy? I can answer the questions at home (like everyone else), but I would probably freeze up and do horribly if I were actually on the show. I would probably say something ridiculous and humiliate myself on national TV.

I can understand about some moments being too private to share. It's not healthy to put everything out there for the world to see. But I also think we should acknowledge that a good life includes those types of satisfactions, too -- without necessarily sharing all the gory details.

It was pretty cool. To answer the questions I keep getting over and over:

1) Alex Trebek seems nice enough, but we didn't really hang out with him. He came out to tape the show, did it like a professional, and vanished.

2) They did not pay my way to California or pay for the hotel. That was all my own expense.

3) I won $2,000 for finishing second. The prize setup is: $1,000 to third, $2,000 to second, and the winner keeps what they earn. Certainly, the 2K covered my trip out there with some left over, so no way did I lose money from doing it.

4) I wasn't really nervous. The whole situation is surreal, but the contestant coordinators (babysitters) really guide you every step of the way. They took us out to the set to get us comfortable there. We played a whole fake game, just to get used to ringing in and answering, ate lunch, played another fake game, and only then played the real game, so by the time the real game happened we were pretty used to it.

My one real lesson from it was: DON'T OVERTHINK THE FINAL ANSWER. I did. The question was "Who did Jesus call 'whited sepulchres'?" I immediately thought, "Pharisees -- no, wait, that's too easy." It was those last five words that did me in. I spent the whole 30 seconds talking myself out of the right answer and into something more obscure, more complicated, and completely wrong (I put down Saduccees). If it had been the same question in the middle of the game, I would have rung in, spat out "Pharisees" and moved right along.

If you can answer nearly all the questions before the contestants, by all means try out for the show. It's a great experience, no matter where you finish, and they really do take care of people to keep them from freezing up. To try out, check the Jeopardy website. They give a web test a couple times a year and draw their contestants from there.

In terms of private moments, for what it's worth the best and most meaningful day of my life was the day I married my husband. It was just the perfect day from beginning to end.

I don't know that I could even quite explain one of the most meaningful private moments, but I'll try. I was washing dishes. At the time, Joy dish liquid was using the slogan, "just a little does a load." I was at the time reading the whole bible cover to cover, reading about Buddhism, and doing a lot of thinking about spiritual things. Suddenly I looked at the label and realized that yes, just a little joy can do so much. Just a moment of enlightenment can change a life and brighten the whole world. We don't have to be perfect or fully enlightened. Just a little joy is all it takes, and we can all do that.

http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=1787

I'd hit it; have a totally inexplicable thing for redheads. That picture is way, way better than the one you presently use in your av.

This sort of hints at the person you're dating might be someone we would "know"....

Spill it, Negreanu. Who is he and how long has this been going on?

1) I should have known Brv would find it; he's very nearly as great a researcher as LG. I searched Google images but was too lazy to actually search FCP and find the very link she posted.

2) Really? I thought I looked kind of dorky, although looking at it now it's better than I remember it. And thank you, although I've seen very little that FCP guys woudn't hit.

I don't think the other person would appreciate being outed. He's a very private Guy, that Balloo...er......




dammit

Yes, you do look dorky in that pic, but there's a big + to that for a certain type of guy. It's called "dorkhot" and you either get it, or you don't.

Also, relatively speaking, that picture is much better than looking like an albino Scarlett O'Hara.

Honey, "albino Scarlett O'Hara" is the appearance *goal* of most Southern women!!!

I was gonna go with Todd Brunson. Dunno why, just seemed like the crack to make here.

My first thought about the "happy blog" and past references to Emely from Costa Rica was, "Dude, you can probably get laid in the US, y'know. Just sayin'."

This isn't something I think you guys would want me to start a thread for, and this seemed like as good a place as any.

MY HUSBAND IS THE ALL-TIME MOST WONDERFUL MAN ON EARTH.

Not only is he my best friend and someone I can still (after twenty years together, since I was 18) spend hours talking to, but...

He made my wedding ring by hand, twice.

My grandparents got married in the middle of the Depression, and my grandfather, a poor but resourceful country boy, made their wedding rings out of silver half-dollars. James and I got married not long after my grandparents died (six months apart after sixty years of marriage). I asked him to make our wedding rings as a tribute to them. He got one of my uncles to explain how it was done, and did it, something that really cemented him in our family's hearts. One of my favorite wedding pictures is of all my family gathered around admiring our rings, and the minister told the story of how they came to be during the ceremony.

Now, I am an awful, terrible wife. I LOST my ring. We were working on the house, moving a load of bricks. I didn't want to scratch my ring, so I took it off and put it in my pocket. At the end of the day, no ring, and we'd moved several loads of brick from one town to another, so it never turned up.

We still hate to be apart, even for a day or two, so when I went out to LA last week to deliver a lecture on my book, he missed me so much he decided to make me another ring for Valentine's Day. Then when I came home, he couldn't wait until then to give it to me.

I'm looking at it now, thick and silver and beautiful, just like my Grandma's ring was. I'm never taking it off again, and I love it and him so much I just had to tell everyone.

This reminds me of something I read today in Bill Simmons' mailbag column:


Q: I just lost my virginity to my ex-girlfriend's sister. I don't care what you do with this information because I'm telling everyone.
--Josh A., Clarion