“I wasted time, and now time wastes me.”
Richard II said that, or at least his creator William Shakespeare did in 1595 when the word “doth” was used a lot before “waste”. I mention this for two reasons: The New Yorker cartoonist, George Booth, died this month at 96. As the magazine’s art director said: “if you can’t recognize a Booth cartoon, you need the magazine in Braille.”
But also because our under-rated Canadian seer, Dan Gardner, wrote about Booth’s passing on how we always misjudge time, and especially age, and most especially, other people’s age.
Booth’s cartoons were as quirky and charming as the man himself who was profiled in a 23-minute documentary on getting old and staying in the game.
Meanwhile…
1. Running for office in Rome. Why couldn’t America do it that way this week? Back then, “voters selected on the basis of perceived character and past behaviour rather than the views a candidate expressed.”
2. All possible plots by major authors. As this blog asks: “We praise canonical authors for their boundless imagination. Then why do all their plots feel the same?”
3. Change your words. Change your world. This ad is more than a decade old. But its point is even sharper today when words so rarely come in peace or bring comfort and joy.
4. How do you address the World Stroke Association? Dr. Joe MacInnis is a medical doctor and motivational speaker whose audiences include IBM, Rolex, and Microsoft. A few months ago he had a heart attack followed by a stroke. Here’s what he’s planning to say to the WSO – and to you and me.
5. Rich conversations about wealth. A podcast series called Serious Coin about being very rich. Hosted by Toronto wealth management marketer Kelly Willis Green who ended up marrying into wealth. Great episodes, from “When wealth divides friends” to “When women hold the wealth.”
6. The millennium was 23 years ago. So why does this list talk about the 26 best movies of the millennium? And why are most of the 26 from before 2010? Was that the year we all went to our social media rooms, rarely to emerge?
7. Fascinating moths and beetles. The helicopter business can learn from them, as can we about the beauty of nature one wing-flap at a time.
8. Can we please have this at Pearson? Now here’s some technology to get us from the curb to the gate much faster than now.
9. The Food Substitutions Bible. The third edition is just out with 8,000 substitutions for ingredients, equipment and techniques. “This is the book you’ll reach for to get out of a jam.” Or if you’re just out of jam.
10. Conductors singing in rehearsal. Which is why they’re conductors, not singers.