James Drogan

Re: Conversations with Dave

"Who the deuce ever did anything worth naming without sacrifice?" John Herschel 1830

There was a time when I thought of life in terms of the homeruns. That's now gone as I've grown older and, quite possibly, grown more mature.

Now, life is about how I live every day, that collection of small wins and losses that manifests who I am. And I need some losses. I reckon that winning all the time means I'm not trying hard enough, not pushing the envelope, too content with the warm, comfortable feeling that often means I'm stuck in the center of the herd and not out in front far enough to do any good.

The frustration I have is being unable to get at all of the world's riches that I now sense. By riches I mean ideas, information, knowledge, interesting people, etc., etc.

I bought an iPod Nano (I'm listening to NPR's All Songs Considered as I write this morning) which is helping me get at more of the riches. I plug it in to the laptop in the evening, iTunes automatically updates my playlists, I plug me into the iPod the following morning, and while driving to the college, partake of a mind feed.

Therein, however, lies an interesting question. Perhaps I'm cutting more and more into my downtime. Downtime represents that incubation period that I think often gives rise to unexpected ideas and insights.

We'll see (it seems I end many notes with these two words).