Life Web Log Entries
A Moment That Touched Me - The Fountainhead
Posted: November 2, 2009 at 2:02 PM by Ben Nadel
I'm in between audio books right now, so I'm listening to bits and pieces of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. I can't quite articulate why I love the book so much, but I find it to be hugely moving and inspiring. This morning, on the way to work, I listening to a passage that almost moved me to tears. Out of context, it might not have much meaning; bu... read more »
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My BFusion / BFLEX Keynote Address
Posted: October 24, 2009 at 2:11 PM by Ben Nadel
I just finished my portion of the BFusion / BFLEX keynote address and got some really great feedback. A few people even asked for a copy of my speech. Here is what I wrote: . . . A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting hosted by the NYCUPA, which is the New York City chapter of the UPA - the Usability Professional's Association. This particular ... read more »
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Presenting Ideas vs. Teaching Techniques
Posted: July 12, 2009 at 2:59 PM by Ben Nadel
I'm sitting in the office on this Sunday afternoon working on my CFUNITED presentation, Advanced ColdFusion Custom Tags. I started working on this presentation many months ago because I had to get it ready for CFUNITED Express - New York City. In the months between then and cf.Objective() (another ColdFusion conference out in Minnesota), I was nev... read more »
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Nora Ephron vs. Meg Ryan: What Is That We Love?
Posted: July 7, 2009 at 10:19 AM by Ben Nadel
For years, I really loved Meg Ryan. I still like her, of course, but when I was younger, I definitely held her on some sort of a pedestal. She stood out from the other actresses of her time as being just fun and adorable and super lovable. And for years, I just assumed it was all due to her inherent goodness. But like any actor, she's also made so... read more »
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What Chinese Food Has Taught Me About Life
Posted: March 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM by Ben Nadel
I'm sitting here enjoying some General Tso's Chicken from my local Chinese eatery. Tonight, it tastes especially good because in addition to being delicious, it has taught me a valuable lesson about life. I'm not sure if I can quite articulate the lesson or if I fully understand it yet; but, in order to explain the lesson, I have to share the stor... read more »
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You Practice Gymnastics, I Practice Everything
Posted: March 2, 2009 at 10:34 AM by Ben Nadel
If you've read my blog for a while, you have hopefully noticed that I keep a very open mind when it comes to self-improvement. I have some strong beliefs in the way that I do things, but I often enjoy questioning these beliefs and having rich conversations about the founding of my beliefs as well as the beliefs of those around me. While some peopl... read more »
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If You Think You Know Nothing, You're Off To A Good Start
Posted: March 2, 2009 at 9:33 AM by Ben Nadel
Many years ago, when I was a personal trainer at Equinox Fitness, my fitness manager was teaching me how to develop training programs for clients. We talked about planes of movement and balance around the joints and varying intensity and all things related. He was a great teacher and was very patient with me. And yet, despite his teachings, I felt... read more »
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Way Of The Peaceful Warrior - Living In The Moment, Letting Go Of The Future
Posted: January 11, 2009 at 9:16 PM by Ben Nadel
Last week, after I wrote about acting like a warrior , Charlie Griefer was thoughtful enough to send me a copy of the Peaceful Warrior starring Nick Nolte and Scott Mechlowicz. Thanks a lot Charlie, you rock hardcore ! I've seen this movie a couple of times before and was contemplating adding it to my DVD collection; so Charlie's timing could ... read more »
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The Way Of The Warrior And The Chance Not To Be Fired
Posted: January 6, 2009 at 12:03 PM by Ben Nadel
Over the last few weeks, an individual in my life has launched a serious campaign of hatred against me. These messages started out with simple feelings of discontent; but, over the last week or two, these feelings have escalated to extreme and very explicit feelings of hatred. I tried ignored all of these messages, hoping that the hatred would sim... read more »
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Project HUGE: The Imaginary Fear Of Scheduling Mundane Tasks Such As Nutritional Intake
Posted: December 28, 2008 at 12:05 PM by Ben Nadel
For some reason, I have this completely imaginary fear surrounding the scheduling of mundane tasks. I have this made-up belief that certain things should just happen naturally - that I should just know how and when to get them done and that the very act of scheduling them is a symptom of some inherent fault in my personality. Imagine having to sch... read more »
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The Four Agreements By Don Miguel Ruiz (Thanks Jason Kay)
Posted: December 4, 2008 at 10:08 AM by Ben Nadel
While I am still in the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , I wanted to take a little time yesterday to listen to The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. This book was recommended to me a long time ago by Jason Kay. Shortly afterwards, I purchased a used copy of it at the Strand but never e... read more »
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Zen, Motorcycle Maintenance, And Producing Software
Posted: November 21, 2008 at 8:43 AM by Ben Nadel
I am currently working my way through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig (thanks Joshua Cyr ). I've got a lot more to go, but this morning, the main character said something that I thought was quite profound, especially for me as a software engineer. To paraphrase (as I don't remember the exact words), he said: The ... read more »
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Duckman Is My Sherpa
Posted: November 17, 2008 at 11:39 PM by Ben Nadel
Duckman was a loud, obnoxious, offensive, sexist, hate-filled, angry, neglectful, and self-centered duck detective. He was also one of my most influential mentors. I am not sure whether he so much taught me as much as he perhaps just helped me to codify some of my core beliefs; but either way, several epiphanies have been had crouched at his orang... read more »
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Intrinsic Goodness, Sex, Happiness, And Pleasure
Posted: November 11, 2008 at 9:24 AM by Ben Nadel
I was chatting the other day with my friend about his relationship. Apparently, he and the missus are having some friction because he desires intimacy more than she does. Naturally, this misalignment of desires is causing some frustration on both sides. I was trying to console my friend when he asked me, "How often do you need to have sex in a rel... read more »
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"It Depends" vs. "Fact With Exceptions"
Posted: August 18, 2008 at 1:27 PM by Ben Nadel
While learning object oriented programming, I've come up against the phrase, "It Depends" quite a bit. Actually, with almost every question, it seems that someone offers "It Depends" as the answer. For someone learning a completely new topic, answers like this can be very frustrating because it seems that not only do you need to find information, ... read more »
