"The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools." -Thucydides The Fitness Platoon has decided to concentrate on the often neglected body part: The brain. We have started a study group. Those who have enough time before shipping [...]

“Success is a lousy teacher.” -- Bill Gates We often see those who are successful and ascribe their success to a modern day equivalent of divine right. From the outside it seems that somehow these people lead charmed lives far removed from the daily struggles the rest of us must slog through. Nothing could be [...]

Loved Seth Godin's post today: Link: Is effort a myth? I love people willing to put forth effort. It's why I'm enjoying the fitness group so much. Teachers, mentors, and leaders in general can work wonders when dealing with people willing to put forth the effort. Conversely, they can do practically nothing for someone not [...]

The risk of sports became very real to me personally when I saw a boy’s neck get snapped in football practice when I was in high school. I have since asked myself why he put himself at such risk. For that matter, why did we all? The answer is very simple: We struggled and risked [...]

I’m reading the autobiography that Norman Rockwell dictated to his son. Here is one of the passages that I highlighted regarding the effort required for greatness: I wanted to be a great illustrator. I was so dedicated and solemn that the other students called me “The Deacon.” The lunchroom crowd, students who wore beards and [...]

Matt Archambault recently introduced me to illustrator Alphonse Mucha (1860-1930). Mucha was an amazing artist that I’m very surprised to have never heard of before. I recognized his influence, though, in comics today — most notably in the work of Adam Hughes. Apparently Mucha’s talent didn’t completely surface early in his life. Here is a [...]

The first days of my algebra 2 class in high school were easy. I remember Mrs. Davis up at the board going over the lessons, and thinking, "when do we get to the interesting stuff?" Then I went to sleep. A semester or two later I woke up, looked up at the board and thought, [...]

Almost by definition, if you set an example worth following, you are leading. You don’t need to be in charge to set a good example. Nor do you need to hold a high position in an organization to set a good example. You simply have to understand what a good example would be and become [...]

I find Abraham Lincoln’s method of planning the most appealing and the most practical. Jokingly, he has stated that his “plan is to have no plan.” When pressed further, he equated his method of planning with how he navigated a river as a riverboat captain. When navigating the river, he would plan his immediate route [...]

I've always had a problem drawing wheels. I eventually tracked down the problem: my understanding of how circles are effected by linear perspective was flawed. I had studied the problem, but when I applied what I thought I knew, my wheels never turned out quite right. No amount of practice with my flawed principles would [...]