Sentential Links #240

Two hundred forty! Wow, I've been doing these for a long time.

:: I choose the foods. I choose to wake up at 5 am to get on the treadmill. I choose to make this a priority. I’m not taking a magic pill. I am digging deep, finding the courage and doing this. Two months in and I can see the physical and emotional changes. (via)

:: Let’s start with this… a seat at the bar on a busy night is considered valuable real estate, it’s there for you to spend money not just your time. It’s not a park bench. And few things make your friendly bartender gradually more un-friendly, than having someone sit at the bar and park. For hours! Meaning, not have a drink beyond the first, just sit and sip and sit til the cows come home. For it’s not unlike a book store customer knocking out “War and Peace”, or reading a stack of his favorite “mags” without the slightest intention of making a purchase.

:: The saying “Measure twice and cut once” isn’t just a set of pretty words — it’s something some of us could remember a little more often.

:: Weaknesses: Most people are beginning to catch on to what a vapid, corrupt, petty, spiteful, intellectually incurious, vindictive, greedy, dimwitted, dishonest, crazy asshole she actually is (Yeah, that's a pretty good summation of Sarah Palin.)

:: I am honored that I was given the opportunity to “discover” this amazing book. The manuscript showed up on my doorstep just shortly before a Thanksgiving holiday many years ago. It was over a thousand pages long, and I was anxious to read just enough of it to be able to reject it without having to lug the thing home. But after reading the first page I knew I was doomed to get almost no sleep that night. (Oh, wow! That book is remarkable.)

:: The last ten years have given us a number of colorful and violent looks at the Roman world. When Gladiator won Best Picture in 2000, Hollywood took notice, following it with films about the ancient world (including the Spartan defense against the Persians to Alexander’s conquest of India.) Instead of talking about the films and TV shows of Rome chronologically by release date, let’s allow history to unfold before us. We’ll take a tour of the Roman story as it unfolds… (What a great blog this is!)

:: Most Twitterers will never rise to this kind of brilliance, but it is great that the medium exists for those who can.

More next week!