So, the wife ran the marathon like a boss on Sunday. She “PR’d” as they say in running circles, by getting a Personal Record… PR makes sense now, doesn’t it. She came in at 4:32.07 and was passing people like crazy for the final 6 miles. She is amazing and this is quite an accomplishment… which leads to today’s topic of “Accomplishment!” Now, accomplishments can take on the form of many things. They are quiet things, internal and personal things that no one else knows about and then there is jumping out of a helium balloon from the edge of space*. Both are accomplishments and both are to be lauded. Therefore today’s topic is “Accomplishment!”
Thanks go to my wife, lsig, Chris Corrigan, Dr B Dawg, Dave Newbold, and Kelly. On to the questions!
1. Why is accomplishment so often tied to money?
Because many people need to quantify just how accomplished an accomplishment is. Monetary compensation is just one way of creating a metric.
2. Related: what is the accomplishment you have made that only made you happy inside but mattered to no one else?
I won a Ten Ton Studios Sketch Challenge. That means a bunch to me because there is some crazy talent there.
3. What do you hope our kids accomplish in life?
Allowing us to retire in luxury.
4. Some folks talk about a fait accompli - why do folks have to use french instead of saying “done deal” are they snobby or something?
Snobbiness is quite the accomplishment, and nothing, other than quoting Vonnegut is quite as snobby as smashing French sayings into colloquial American conversations.
5. Why do people say that their kids are their greatest accomplishment? Because, really, we all know it’s a crapshoot after the sperm meets the egg…you can try and try and try and they will still grow up to be who they are supposed to be no matter what you do?
There is the whole nurture argument, but that happens waaay after the whole birthing process, and most people claim that particular accomplishment the moment the infant meets the world. I don’t get it either.
6. What is your own best accomplishment?
Hmmmm… I knew this question was coming the moment I came up with the topic, and I have been trying to figure out an answer. My best accomplishment is that I have really taken very strong actions to not repeat my family patterns and deal with the mental health issues that come with being part of any family.
7. Do you ever feel like the accomplishments of your friends and family are a silent indictment of your own lack thereof? Or is that just me?
Sometimes I do and sometimes I bask in the light spilling off friends and family due to their accomplishments.
8. What “to-do”s are you going to accomplish today?
Write blog: Check
Go to work: Check
Make some dinner:
Do some reading for class:
Watch an introductory lecture:
9. Is it better to have small goals and accomplish them, or big soaring goals that you may never reach?
Yes, both are better. I think the long reaching “Big Soaring Goals” should be comprised of “Small Goals” that helps you accomplish them. It is very much the gamification of accomplishment. Small steps that lead to large leaps.
10. How do you keep a balance between accomplishment and progress, because let’s face it, unlike a marathon, life has few actual finish lines?
Again, it goes to gamification. Small attainable goals that inform a direction for progress. Much like role playing games, it is all about leveling up and moving forward. The progress informs the direction of future progress, but that progress is built upon small accomplishments that keep things “progressing.”
11. How many five-letter words can you make out of accomplishment? I stopped at 90 because of a hand cramp. And since I used all of my allotted question writing time in writing these words, this is my question. So, enjoy.
Wow, there are soo many words… so many. You know I have a job, two kids, going to school full-time, have some contract work on the side.. I really don’t have the time to find more than 90 5-letter anagrams using the word “Accomplishment.”
12. What’s a bigger accomplishment- running a marathon or losing 30lbs?
Gonna say running a marathon, because it is very easy to re-gain the weight, however, once you have run the marathon, no one can take that accomplishment away from you.
13. Is it an accomplishment to eat an entire 18” pizza by yourself?
Yep. 14 inch? Nope.
14. If you have 7 beers and then 3 shots of moonshine is it an accomplishment to not get a DUI when the cop pulls you over and says he can smell alcohol?
Drunk driving is never an accomplishment, it is, at best a lucky fluke of fortune if it does not end up tragic.
15. I considering filling a sketchbook a huge accomplishment but nobody ever acknowledges it. Do you have secret accomplishments that mean alot to you but little or nothing to others even if they knew?
Sketchbooks are a great accomplishments and should be lauded. As far as a “secret accomplishment?” Hmmm… I am trying to cover my work space with small sketches.
16. Have ever accomplished something that seemed really important before and then almost worthless afterwards?
Most accomplishments as a kid end up feeling worthless afterward. Saving a crap-ton of money for a mint edition comic book that is now, technically worthless.
17. What is a better accomplishment: running a marathon to the very last mile or keeping it going, keeping it going full steam?
Too sweet to be sour too nice to be mean. Gonna go with Keep it going, Keep it goin full steam.
18. What is your favorite accomplishment?
Ever? When Grog the wise created the wheel. Well-done, Grog. Well-done, indeed.
19. Some people think their kids are their best accomplishment, but where’s the fun in that?
There is no fun in that. Get some originality people.
20. Nobel prize in physics or peace?
I would take either, but I have a better chance of peace over physics because, well… I am not super well versed in physics now.
To recap:
I am super tired
Not like a monster truck though
That is a different kind of super tired
Which is different than super tiered
That is more like a badass wedding cake
Tiered, Baby!
Here is the wife in the corral waiting to start the run
The marathon was crazy foggy for about an hour and a half
This group were some of the elites of the marathon
You can’t really see them
Here she is at mile 13
Here she is at mile 24
She is a badass
Have a great weekend
*Not really the edge of space, it was about 25 miles up and space is not defined until 60 miles up